Fall Previews - Week Six - November 6th

7:45PM Shukr v. Sabr

Sabr! True to their name, Sabr has been patient and persevered! At exactly the half-way point through the season, Sabr has won their game!

And they did it in dramatic fashion. Ahmad Hathout, who has been producing all year and currently leads the league in points, rolled of the half-boards and deposited the game winner with 30 seconds left in the game.

Wow! Sabr with a full bench and scoring goals? Shukr might be in for a bigger test than they thought. The same guys who are sitting on top of the league standings and undefeated, are going to have their hands full dealing with the tank-like Ahmad Hathout and the maniacal rover Huzaifa Manjra (does he play forward? Defense? “Forence”?)

Burning Question?

Will Shukr keep chugging along and remain undefeated?

Players To Watch: You gotta watch Ahmad Hathout. Why? He’s just fun to watch man.

Who’s Hot? For the fourth mention in this game preview (and yes I’m totally his cheerleader at this point): Ahmad Hathout with 12 points in 5 games including SEVEN(!!!) in his last TWO(!!!!)

8:45PM Haya v. Ihsan

Oh Ihsan. Ihsan, Ihsan, Ihsan. How far are you from your namesake (Ihsan means excellence). This team has the most blown leads/ties in the last minute of a game than any other team in the league. That’s far from excellent.

There’s some kind of mental toughness that this team needs to conjure otherwise they’re in for a rough season. And coach K? He’s gotta do some coaching and get this team ready for closing out 1 goal games. This stuff can’t happen for a team with that much talent.

On the brighter side, Haya finally scored goals! Four of them! This after scoring only two goals in their last three games. What’s even more impressive is that they did it with a short bench and with almost all their better players as no-shows.

Not to worry. Faisal Mehboob and Imran Lakhanpal both picked up the slack and scored two goals apiece.

But to give credit where it’s due, Rizwan Ali basically stood on his head for Haya in that game. And he had to because Haya was dominated possession-wise throughout that game. He might have to do that more often!

Burning Questions? Both teams are middlingly average. Which team is getting back on the road to decency?

Who’s Hot? Imran Lakhanpal had 3 points last week including 2 goals and he can really score goals if he’s ignored.

Player to Watch: I’m giving this to Humza Chaudhry because he deserves some attention. He has 5 points this season and scored a highlight reel goal where he split the defense and scored an incredible goal.

9:45PM Emaan v. Ikhlas

Hard luck. Both teams just suffered some terrible luck last week.

Emaan totally dominated Haya last week and poured it on for the entire second period and couldn’t buy a goal. The better team, ran into a hot goalie, and lost. That’s hockey. It happens.

Ikhlas had a tighter game but also probably outplayed their opponents but also lost 1-0 and suffered their first loss of the year.

Captain, and perennial player-of-the-game winner, Ahmad Ibrahim needs to grab his team by the collar and get them refocused on this game. Ahmad Ibrahim will also need to engage some of his minor depth players like Waqar Khan, and get him scoring goals again.

Meanwhile, the Solimans need to tell Yousuf Soliman that it’s a good idea to shoot the ball from time to time – especially if he’s playing defense. Might help them get on track.

Burning Questions? Will Ikhlas return to dominance? Will Emaan finally start scoring the way they can?

Who’s Hot? Kaunain Saiyed has a 1.60 GAA and a league leading .860 SV%. Great stats for him!

Player to Watch: Hani Soliman’s is starting to heat up (3 pts in last 2 games), and he’s the playmaker that makes his team tick, so watch out for him.