I'm not too surprised, I definitely felt very lucky to be in game 1. But didn't go my way. Think I too took too much note of it in my planning. But not sure I had any setup I could've played to beat you. But, likewise, seemed like when I played the proper defense against you, I struggled more. Go figure :-p
Definitely good luck in D III. Looks like statistically it was rated the third easiest D III in the US last year, so I bet you'll compete a fair bit. Make that bank, stick around a bit, then work those players into better replacements if they retire (if any are close). I definitely would want to keep my guys around too (and a smidge of financial support). But still, of course, you gotta do what you gotta do :)
Best of luck :)