Roman Collapse

[GioSivo 167]

Roman Collapse: Rome's Fall and Rise and Fall Again

 

The Rome Gladiators had an incredibly unusual season this year. With uncrushable highs and soul-shattering lows, it's safe to say things were anything but expectable for them. The beginning of the season, Rome looked primed for a strong run to the VHLE championship, with BjorkaBjorn BjornaBjorkson, Hannibal Barca, Bobby Bob and trading for Francesco Mancini they seemed like a sure fire contender.  However, things started very slow for the team, all the pieces were there, but it just wasn't clicking. It was unknown what the problem was, but soon that reason was to be irrelevant, with a few more trades, Rome went on an incredible hot streak. They rocketed from 4th place in the league to 1st place with points to spare. But then came their complete collapse. They went an absolutely horrendous 1-14-3 in an 18 game stretch, falling back into 4th place and edging on falling out of a playoff spot. Morale was incredibly low, but they finished things strong winning their last 5 of 6.

In the Wildcard Round against Istanbul, Rome came right back into form, McCagg becoming a brick wall, and BjornaBjorkson once again dominating play, along with Francesco Mancini. Defeating Istanbul, they came across Geneva, who finished first during the regular season. Rome continued their hot play from against Istanbul, winning in 6. But against Oslo their hot streak came to an end, going down 3-0, and ultimately losing in 6 in the VHLE Finals.