It is always hard to call the fifth game of the season a must-win affair. But with the Aviators still winless as they enter their fifth game of the season, Los Angeles has its best chance at a victory as a fellow sub-.500 team makes a cross-country journey.

The Houston Havoc are 1-3 with their lone win coming against the Colorado Summit in their last game. It was a dominant win for the home team as the Havoc led by nine heading into the fourth quarter, allowing the Summit to cut the margin to six goals by the end of the game.

The Aviators are coming off their strongest three-quarter stretch of the season, despite a 21-16 loss against the Growlers. After trailing 5-1 at the end of the first frame, the
Aviators found their groove and kept the deficit in that range for the rest of the matchup.

The Havoc were in a similar spot to Los Angeles heading into their matchup with the Summit, struggling with strong starts. Across its first three games, Houston was outscored 19-11 in the first quarter but then came out and went up 6-3 over Colorado after 12 minutes.

Although the Aviators are aware of their slow starts — LA opponents have outscored the Aviators 21-7 in the first quarter across the last three games — they have still struggled out of the gates, making the first quarter a main focus for the home team.

Where LA can take solace is Houston was able to figure out its struggles, and the Havoc are the first team the Aviators have played who do not currently have a winning record. The story is similar for Houston though, as its opponents have a combined 8-3 record.

With both teams at similar spots in their seasons, it’ll come down to the margins this Friday.

While the two squads both had a penchant for long points in their last outings — Houston had seven points which lasted two minutes or longer and LA had six — the Havoc often played much faster. Of the 23 goals Houston scored, eight of those points lasted 45 seconds or fewer. Comparatively, LA only did that for four of its 16 goals.

On the defensive side, the Aviators will have to look out for the speed of Houston, as LA allowed San Diego to score nine of its 21 points in under 45 seconds. Part of the Havoc’s speed comes from their hucking ability, sitting with the sixth-best percentage in the UFA at 68.6%.

Tall players are littered across the LA roster, but the Aviators allow opponents to complete hucks at a 72.5% clip, the second-worst mark in the league. If Los Angeles can secure blocks in the deep space — the Havoc completed eight of their 13 huck attempts their last time out — it can better position itself to secure breaks, which has been a struggle so far this season.

Standing at 6-foot-6, James Franklin can be a major catalyst for the Aviators in that category. While Franklin already has a career-high 14 assists to go along with 10 goals, he has yet to record a block this season after putting up seven last year in his first season with Los Angeles. Similarly, Mitchell Steiner led the team in blocks last season with 15, but has only notched two on the year thus far. The 11-year veteran has 112 career blocks but is on pace to tie his career low with the Aviators when he had eight in 2021.

After putting up 105 blocks as a team last year, the Aviators are on pace to record 93 this season. If Franklin and Steiner can add to the blocking regimen of Sean McDougall and Max Combs, each with five blocks, defense can become an integral part of LA quickly turning this season around.

The Aviators secure breaks at a league-low 12.7% but, like many of their statistics this season, started to turn the corner their last time out. After securing a mere two breaks across two games, Los Angeles came back and secured a solid three breaks at a 17.6% clip. While the league leaders procure breaks at a rate better than 30%, the Aviators are moving in the right direction.

LA will look to carry over this trend from the last game when it hosts the Houston Havoc this Friday at 7 p.m. at Great Park Championship Stadium. 

The matchup also represents the Aviators’ Women in Sports Night where the organization is teaming up with the Downtown Women’s Center to collect donations for women in need. Check out LA’s Instagram page for more details and follow the link to get your game tickets.