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The Excite will need a win Saturday evening on the road against the Northern Illinois Rebels combined with a Rampage win against the Twisters at home to earn the final playoff berth. However if the defending AISL champion Twisters win, they will return to the final regardless of the outcome of the Excite-Rebels contest, as they hold a slight edge in the tiebreaker (goals scored in the season series between the two teams). In the four games between the two clubs, the Twisters hold a slim 26-25 margin in points scored. Both games take place Saturday March 8 at 7:30 PM. Coach Rob Libera’s Twisters played their way back into the title picture last weekend with two convincing victories over the Rebels, defeating the injury-depleted squad 14-4 on back-to-back nights. The Excite were not so lucky, as a three-goal performance by Ante “the Law” Cop led the Rampage to their twelfth straight win, as they hammered the Excite 12-6 in Rockford. Should the Twisters secure the final berth in the championship game, it will be the first rematch in the history of the AISL title game. The Twisters and Rampage (then called the Thunder) met in last year’s championship game, with the Twisters coming out on top with an 11-5 decision.
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The fight for the AISL Championship comes down to the final weekend as the Massachusetts Twisters and the Cincinnati Excite are in a dead heat for the right to go to the championship game against the Rockford Rampage. The 2008 AISL Championship Game is slated for March 15 at 7:30 PM CST at the Victory Sorts Complex in Loves Park, Illinois.