The Southern Dogs have perhaps been unlucky.
They picked up a point from their opening match with Canterbury.
The score was tied 2-2 at fulltime but Canterbury won the shoot-out 5-4.
The Dogs dominated for long periods during the match against North Harbour in Dunedin on Sunday but were not as polished in front of goal as they needed to be and lost 2-1.
The two defeats have left the Dogs in sixth place and in a situation where they will need to beat Capital today if they are going to remain in touch with the leading teams.
''It is a huge game for us,'' Dogs coach Dave Ross said.
''It is probably our last chance. If we get the points, we are still in the hunt. If we don't, then we'll be in a bit of trouble in terms of making the semifinals.
''We've just got to be a bit more clinical up front and I think we can beat Capital.''
The Dogs will get a boost in that area with the arrival of Irish international Kirk Shimmins.
He will link up with Black Sticks striker Hugo Inglis to give the Southerners more ''punch''.
The Southern Storm has also had two losses. Coach Rod Rzepecky felt his side's performance dropped a cog from its opening effort against Canterbury.
It lost 4-0 to Canterbury on the opening weekend. But the Storm's performance was encouraging, considering it had just came together as a team the night before the game.
It managed about a dozen circle penetrations and, other than a poor opening quarter, it competed well.
But there were precious few highlights in the team's 5-1 loss to Harbour in Dunedin on Sunday.
''It was less than ideal,'' Rzepecky said.
''We did not really front up or assert ourselves in the game physically. We kind of took a step backwards from the Canterbury game, so we just need to make sure that we adjust and bring more for the remainder of the tournament.''
The Storm plays Capital today and Northland tomorrow.
Capital shapes as the easier fixture, although with Black Sticks striker Anita Punt in the squad, the Wellington-based team will be threatening.
''Last year we did a really good job of containing her and we'll be hoping to do the same sort of thing [today].
''We are definitely targeting that game. They've only scored one more goal than us and they have lost both their matches, so I think it is a good game for us,'' Rzepecky said.
The Storm has scored just one goal in two games and, like the Dogs, will need to sharpen up in front of the net to climb the competition ladder.
''It took us a while to get into the game on Sunday. It was the third quarter before we got a shot on goal. We will be looking to get the ball up front as early as we can and attack more as a team rather than just in ones and twos.''
