Due to poor weather and other factors, the Skyhawks attendance was disappointing early in the inaugural 2006 season, until the team found itself in a tight, multi-team race for the first-half pennant. With a 23-19 record into the first half's final weekend, Sussex had a chance to win the first half if they could take two out of three games from the North Shore Spirit. Instead, they were swept, and the Skyhawks tumbled all the way to fifth place, one of six teams in a three-game knot at the top of the standings.