LIVESTREAM French Semifinal: Tours Pionniers @ Thonon Black Panthers, June 17, 18:00 CET (6 pm, 12 noon EDT)

For the 10th time since 2010, the Thonon Black Panthers have reached the semifinal round of the French D1 Elite Championship league where they will play host to the Tours Pionniers on Saturday, June 17.

As the first place finisher in Conference A, Thonon earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Pionniers, third place finishers in Conference A, defeated the Toulouse Ours, who finished second in Conference B, in the Wild Card round to advance to the semifinal.

The Black Panthers finished the season with the league’s best record at 9-0-1, with their only imperfection being a tie against the Flash.  With an offense averaging over 40 points per game, Thonon led the league in scoring by a significant margin, while their defense ranked third in the league in points against.  They go into these playoffs likely seen as the favorite to take home the championship and will begin their quest with a relatively easy matchup.

On the other side of this matchup, the Tours Pionniers earned a semifinal berth with a 35-26 victory on the road against the Toulouse Ours on June 3rd.  Despite finishing the regular season with a mediocre record of 5-5, the Pionniers are one of the last teams standing and have a shot at reaching the championship game.  To do that, though, they would have to take down the Black Panthers, who defeated Tours 49-7 and 38-14 in two contests this season.

Tours Pionniers @ Thonon Black Panthers, June 17, 18:00 CET (6 pm, 12 noon EDT)