Below are the teams that you have had the most success beating again and again and again, plus your least favorite foe and everything else you need to know.
MOST COMMON OPPONENT
Rich Calderon: Matt and Calderon have faced off 33 times, including five times in the postseason.
TOP THREE FAVORITE FOES
#3 Richard Burrier – Matt is 16-11 against Burrier. The 16 wins are the most Neatock has against one foe, although just the third best winning percentage (.592). They first faced off in 2003 and Neatock won that first game by just 32 points. Unfortunately, he lost to Rich in the 2003 quarterfinals. Yet, from there through 2010, Matt would dominate, winning seven of the next eight contests. From 2011 through 2018, life got a little tougher against Burrier. Over the next seven games, Rich would take four of those seven, but then Matt would drop the next four games. Through 21 games, Matt only led the series, 11-10. However, in 2019, Matt sweep Rich in a pair of games and has now won five of their last six meetings.
#2 Griff Coomer – Neatock is 15-9 overall against Griff. He won their first three meetings and five of the first six, including the 2009 title game. Matt would drop his next two (2010, 2012), win the next three, before losing two in a row again (including the 2015 semifinals). Since the 2017 season, neither team has grabbed the momentum in the series, although thanks to a three-game win streak between 2020-2022, Matt has won seven of the last 12 games.
#1 Jeff Greenblatt – Matt has dominated Jeff over the years and among the veteran teams, it’s the most lopsided series in the league. Matt is 15-4 against Jeff, which is a .789 winning percentage. Greenblatt actually won their first meeting back in 2003, but then Neatock won the next eight games until 2015, when they split their two-game series that year. Jeff would go back-to-back with a win in 2016, but Matt would win the next five and seven of the last eight games played between the two.
LEAST FAVORITE FOE
There are three legit teams to put on this list. Matt is just 12-19 against Bob, while he led their series between 2003-2013, winning eight of 15, Bob won five straight starting in 2014 and Matt has dropped 12 of the last 16 meetings. Beyond Bob, we have Colby. Matt has only won a little over a third of his matchups against Hall, going 10-17 overall. Between 2016-2018, Matt beat Colby four straight games. That’s the only time he’s won back-to-back games against him. Meanwhile, Colby has a pair of two-game wins streaks, a pair of three-game win streaks and he enters 2024 riding a four-game win streak over Matt. Yet, Neatock’s least favorite foe has become Michael Evangelist. Not only is Matt just 1-5 against the league’s newest member, he produced the weekly low score in three of those five defeats.
FAVORITE POSTSEASON OPPONENT
There is something to be said for going 3-2 against Calderon in the postseason, especially with two wins in a title game (2007, 2018). Matt is also a solid 3-1 against Bob in the postseason. That one defeat was a one-point loss in the 2014 finals and he got his revenge, becoming the only person to beat Castrone in the title game in 2017. Yet, his favorite foe should be Eric Vozzola, a team Matt is 3-0 against in the playoffs. He beat him in the 2007 quarterfinals and the 2009 quarterfinals. Both seasons Matt went on to win the title. In 2022, while Eric was trying to repeat, Matt defeated him in the semifinals by just 70 points.
LEAST FAVORITE POSTSEASON OPPONENT
This can’t get any easier. Matt is an awful 0-4 against Colby in the playoffs. He lost to him in both the 2005 and 2010 quarterfinals. He lost to him in the 2022 title game and then failed to show up in last year’s semifinals.
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS
As I’ve already mentioned, Neatock once beat Jeff in eight straight games, between 2009 and 2015, which remains tied for the third longest streak in head-to-head history.
LONGEST LOSING STREAKS
While Bob has a five-game win streak over Neatock (2014-2017), Calderon has the longest such streak over Matt. Rich beat Neatock in six straight games, between 2019 and 2021. Two of those six games were playoff games.
WIN-LOSS RECORDS (PLAYOFF W-L)
Robio: 13-17 (1-0)
Griff: 15-9 (2-1)
Don: 14-13 (1-0)
Eric: 11-14 (3-0)
Rob M: 13-15 (2-0)
Rich B: 16-11 (0-2)
Rich C: 15-18 (3-2)
Bob: 12-19 (3-1)
Colby: 10-17 (0-4)
Jeff: 15-3 (1-0)
Michael: 1-5 (0-0)
FUN FACTS
- Matt is the only person to have a career losing record to six different teams, but have a winning record against them in the postseason. They are Robio, Griff, Eric, Masterson, Calderon and Bob.
- Matt enters 2024 riding two losing streaks. He’s lost three straight to Bob and four straight to Colby.
- Neatock has faced every current team in the postseason at least once, except Michael.
- In 2005, Matt defeated Bob twice despite not scoring 1,000 in either game. Bob combined for just 1,592 points in those two contests.
- Of the last five guys to join the league and stay in the league, Matt is 0-5 against them in their first meeting. He’s 4-1 in the second meeting.