JOHNSTOWN - When the Glove Cities Colonials stepped off the bus in Washington D.C. for a North American Football League Consolation Bracket semifinal game, they took a step toward the franchise's former glory.

That, at least, is the hope of head coach Matt Capano and the rest of the organization.

"The run here at the end is great for the organization," Capano said. "It really brought the team together. We played well. There was no arguing or anything. We finally went out and played as a team and realized just how good of a team we are."

The Colonials entered the NAFL this season having won three games the previous summer in the Northeastern Football Alliance. After switching leagues, they won three games in the NAFL regular season and entered the consolation bracket tournament, which comes to an end with a consolation championship in Miami the same day as the championship bracket's title game in the same stadium.

The Colonials started by beating the Ithaca Aggression for the third time this season. Although the Aggression's ranks were bolstered by the addition of players from the Cortland team, which had played in another league and folded at the end of the season, Glove Cities won 60-6.

They then had to face the Western N.Y. Cougars, a team that had beaten Glove Cities twice in the regular season, 26-18 at Knox Field and 30-22 in Rochester. The Colonials won the postseason match-up 20-18, stopping Western on four straight goal line plays with less than two minutes to play.

"At that point, our guys came together and said, 'Look, we've got a heck of a team here. Let's continue this run,'" Capano said. "The guys were all jumping around, going nuts, hugging each other. It was probably our best win of the year."

It had to be a bit of a surprise for the Cougars, who already had made their travel arrangements for the semifinals. The Colonials had just 20 players the first time they traveled to Rochester and lost 30-22, but had 26 in the postseason contest. Capano said the extra bodies made all the difference.

The win earned the Colonials a trip to the semifinal game Saturday against the Washington D.C. Explosion. The weather took the pass - their strength - away from the Colonials.

Still, after the Explosion scored first, the Colonials (5-8) countered to tie the game.

It went downhill from there, though, as the Explosion's quickness combined with the wet conditions to seal the Colonials fate. They intercepted four Glove Cities passes, returning three for touchdowns in a 42-13 win.

The Explosion (6-6) will face the Chicago Wolverines (5-5) in the consolation championship, also known as the NAFL2 championship.

The NAFL1 championship will be played after the consolation game and will feature the Nashville Storm (13-0) and St. Paul Pioneers (14-1).

Capano said he has been getting more calls from people wanting to join the team next season and has seen an increased interest in area fans, some of them stopping him on the street to offer encouragement.

Only eight players returned from last season's squad to play this summer, but Capano said he anticipates more rollover from this squad.

"At the end of the game, I went up to each and every one of the players," he said. "There were 30 that made the trip. They all expressed an interest in coming back next year and bringing some extra players with them. That's always good for us."

Although the Colonials lost eight games, only one of them was lost by more than eight points.

When Glove Cities moved into the NAFL, a national league, the team and its management were thought to be a little overambitious considering the organization had not enjoyed much success in recent years. They are hoping this postseason trip continues the turnaround started a couple years ago, bringing increased interest from both fans and potential players.

"I just want to thank everybody for their support for the Colonials this year," Capano said. "We hope to come back stronger next year and maybe we continue this run and go to the championship. We had a great time and the guys all enjoyed it.

"At first, we were taking a lot of criticism for going into this new league, this nationwide league. Hopefully, we turned some heads this year."