Playoff Recap: S02P03

Two deciding games, two buildings that needed a winner, and by the end of the night the Quarter-Finals were finished. Guadalajara survived a back-and-forth game that took until the third period to settle. Johannesburg delivered a shutout to close out a series that had gone the distance. Four teams go home. Four teams move on. Les quarts de finale sont terminés.

S02P03-PER-GDL

The Red FurnacePerth Pyres · 16,849 capacity · Melt hosted a game that Perth led for most of the second period and still lost. Valentina RamírezC · GDL · ●●●●○ · Luminous, Clumsy, Magnetic opened the scoring for Guadalajara, Tahlia NguyenLW · PER · ●●●○○ · Luminous, Brittle, Quiet, Ancient, Hollow answered before the first period ended, and the lead swung back and forth across all three periods. Riley DawsonC · PER · ●●●○○ · Sharp, Hollow, Ancient, Quiet, Brittle and Sienna KapoorD · PER · ●●●●○ · Translated, Quiet each put Perth in front in the second—NguyenRW · ●●○○○ picking up assists on both—only for Rodrigo VargasD · GDL · ●●●○○ · Ancient, Doubled, Magnetic and Diego HernándezLW · GDL · ●●●●○ · Awake, Foggy, Magnetic, Ancient to answer for Guadalajara each time, the second finished with 30 seconds left in the period to level it 3-3 heading to the third.

Andrés RojasD · GDL · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Translated decided it. A power play goal at 3:24, assisted by Sofía NavarroD · GDL · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Burning, Magnetic after Sienna KapoorD · PER · ●●●●○ · Translated, Quiet's penalty, put Guadalajara back in front, and Rojas struck again at 6:44—Jimena CastilloC · GDL · ●●○○○ · Magnetic, Brittle with the feed—to make it 3-5. Perth never found the equalizer this time. Rojas finishes with two goals and two assists in the biggest game of Guadalajara's season so far; Tahlia NguyenLW · PER · ●●●○○ · Luminous, Brittle, Quiet, Ancient, Hollow matches him with a goal and two helpers in a losing cause. The Gatos take the decider on the road and move on to the Semi-Finals. Quel suspense—et quelle fin.

Series: Guadalajara wins 2–1. Guadalajara advances.

S02P03-JBG-SAO

Die Goue MynJohannesburg Jaguars · 24,637 capacity · Altitude settled this series in a hurry. Thabo MokoenaLW · JBG · ●●●●● · Hollow, Foggy, Heavy, Awake, Awake, Doubled, Clumsy opened the scoring at 1:45 off a Sipho NkosiRW · JBG · ●●●●○ · Sharp, Clumsy, Translated, Luminous, Foggy feed, and Zanele NdabaRW · JBG · ●●●○○ · Quiet doubled it before the first period was out, assisted by Bongani MthembuC · JBG · ●●●○○ · Brittle, Echo, Foggy, Sharp, Tidal, who fought Gabriel RodriguesLW · SAO · ●●○○○ · Burning in the final minute of the frame. Two-nil after one, and São Paulo never found its footing.

The Jaguars kept pouring it on. Naledi KhumaloC · JBG · ●●●●● · Magnetic, Foggy, Luminous, Awake made it 3-0 early in the third off a Pieter BothaD · JBG · ●●●●○ · Sharp, Doubled, Wandering, Doubled, Magnetic, Brittle feed, and after Amanda BarbosaD · SAO · ●●●○○ · Foggy, Doubled, Heavy and Mariana LimaD · SAO · ●●●○○ · Translated each dropped the gloves trying to change the game's temperature, Johannesburg finished the job in the final minute—Nomsa MahlanguC · JBG · ●●○○○ · Wandering, Burning, Tidal, Translated, Burning, Echo, Foggy at 14:28, then Pieter Botha 31 seconds later, assisted by Thandiwe RadebeD · JBG · ●●●●○ · Wandering, Quiet, Hollow. Five-nil final, a shutout to close out the series in the most emphatic way possible. Pieter Botha finishes with a goal, an assist, a hit, and a fight; Thabo MokoenaLW · JBG · ●●●●● · Hollow, Foggy, Heavy, Awake, Awake, Doubled, Clumsy, Zanele NdabaRW · JBG · ●●●○○ · Quiet, and Naledi Khumalo all add goals of their own. Johannesburg closes out the Quarter-Final delivering exactly the kind of statement game a Game 3 demands.

Series: Johannesburg wins 2–1. Johannesburg advances.

With that, the bracket is set. Medellín, fresh off a sweep of Winnipeg, meets a Johannesburg side that just found its best defensive game of the postseason. Guadalajara, who needed extra time in two of their three games against Perth to get here, draws a Tokyo team that has yet to concede more than two goals in regulation this postseason. Ça promet.

The Quarter-Finals are behind us. The Semi-Finals begin, and the margins only get thinner from here.

À la prochaine.

—JM Laflèche, Voice of HockayA sport no one asked for but everyone needed.

Le CouncilThe governing body of Hockay and Unexplained Ice Phenomena. acknowledges that the Quarter-Finals of the Season Two playoffs have concluded on schedule. Both deciding contests were resolved in regulation, which Le Council considers appropriate given the stakes involved. The Semi-Final bracket has been finalized: Medellín MapachesMedellín versus Johannesburg JaguarsJohannesburg, and Guadalajara GatosGuadalajara versus Tokyo TitansTokyo. The record has been updated. The Semi-Finals will occur as scheduled.