But coach Aaron Ford knows his troops are up to the challenge.
The national premier hockey league has reached the halfway point and the Alpiners men sit firmly on top of the standings.
They picked up two wins in the opening games and lost 4-3 in a penalty shootout to the Falcons last weekend.
Ford said his team were loving the inaugural competition.
"We’ve had a couple of wins and a shootout loss.
"I think that just goes to show that ... we’re pretty confident in our own game, but know that the whole competition is very close.
"You have to be on your game if you want to be picking up points every week because there’s plenty of quality scattered amongst all the other teams.
"If there’s competition then it’s healthy for our game in New Zealand — it’s really good."
The Alpiners men head into a rematch against the Mavericks, who they beat 4-1 in round two, in Hamilton this afternoon.
Black Stick Aidan Sarikaya appeared for the Mavericks fresh off the plane during that encounter, and will be tougher to face after getting another game under his belt.
Black Sticks captain Nick Woods has also joined the Mavericks since then, and will add to what Ford expected to be a tough battle.
"They’ll just be on another level and we just need to make sure that we’re doing the same," Ford said.
"Probably what we found against the Falcons when we played them for the second time ... we’ve just got a bit of a target on our backs and they were desperate to beat us.
"We’re just trying to get better and better every week.
"We're expecting one hell of a match, but we’ll be ready for them."
Joe Morrison picked up a hand complaint and will sit the game out, but Sam Lane returns after missing last week.
The Alpiners women also come up against the Mavericks this afternoon.
They lost 3-0 to the Falcons in round one and lost 6-2 in the rematch last week.
But they won 3-1 in a penalty shoot out against the Mavericks — after finishing 1-1 at the end of regular time — two weeks ago, and will be looking to gain some more points this afternoon.
Both Alpiners teams will then play the Tridents in North Harbour tomorrow afternoon in a double-header weekend.
