Ironbound were consistent all year long, enjoying several impressive victories over much more established sides, notably a 3-0 over Ottawa Fury in early June (in which Ted Niziolek scored a hat trick), a 4-0 win on the road against Ocean City Barons (which featured a Laventure hat-trick), a dominant 3-1 win over 2007’s unbeatable Hampton Roads Piranhas, and a battling 4-2 triumph over Virginia Legacy. By the time the final weekend rolled around, they were still in with a shot at a place in the Eastern Conference playoffs: they enjoyed overpowering 6-2 demolition of Westchester Flames, in which Chris Karcz netted three times, and were fortunate to make the playoffs ahead of Ottawa Fury, who had an exactly equal record, but lost out on head-to-head results.