22 matches. 22 victories. 334 points for. 123 points against. That was how Scott City LC started its season playing indoors. It looked like nothing could stop them. Scott City's domination looked like it would continue, but a matchup against Piuui Rockets in the IDLO Champions' Cup brought the club back down to earth. The 4-8 loss at home to close out the group stage and subsequent 2-9 loss to Cosumarite side Altamirano Apes in the quarterfinals only dented Scott City's confidence and they went on to win the Southern Lacrosse League's title.
Perhaps we should talk about that for a moment. While the indoor league has remained unified; outdoors, Darmeni lacrosse has split into a Northern Lacrosse League and the Southern Lacrosse League. The only real difference between the two lies in the format of their seasons. The NLL plays a 16 game regular season with a simple single-elimination playoffs between the top four teams. The SLL on the other hand plays only a 10 game regular season with a four team Page–McIntyre style playoffs. The reason for the split in the leagues is fairly simple: teams in the south are far more spread out geographically and are hampered financially by significant travel expenses. By only playing against teams in their geographical area, Darmeni lacrosse teams are expected to save approximately 40% on their travel costs.
Anyways, Scott City would not be the Southern League's representative in the Darmeni Lacrosse Championship matchup between Northern champions and Southern champions. After winning 9-3 in the Qualifier game against Johnho and advancing straight to the Southern League Championship Game, Chuckio LC traveled to the capital and George Busbee Park and came away with the stunning away victory and league championship. The loss was the the second big match - the other being the quarterfinal against the Apes - where the end result wasn't in Scott City's favor and the fourth of Scott City's five losses to occur at the George Busbee Park.
Chuckio's opponent in the Darmeni Lacrosse Championship Game was Brady City LC. After finishing third in the NLL with a 10-6 record, Brady City went on the road to Liverpool and Tilden and emerged victorious in both with single point margins. Brady City is a club that has featured in the outdoor playoffs for all three seasons of modern-era Darmeni lacrosse, finishing as runners-up in both the 2040 and 2041 seasons. Chuckio LC on the other hand had a record of 11-35 outdoors in three seasons and had never featured in the playoffs previous to this season. The odds makers had given Brady City a generous backing pre-match based on the clubs two history's.
So when the final score read Chuckio LC 17–9 Brady City LC, Darmeni lacrosse fans around the country were stunned, shocked and if living in the vicinity of Chuckio, ecstatic. Chuckio will now have another title to add to its collection and the first of the outdoor variety.
Darmen (DAR) qualifiers
Chuckio LC (DAR)
Brady City LC (DAR)
Scott City LC (DAR)
Tilden LC (DAR)