John Kushneryk very nearly stole a spot in the Final for Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue, stopping 21/21 Neon shots to push Blue on to a meeting with Purple. JK was even busier, and nearly as perfect (33/35) in the encore, but Captain William Teglia’s OT strike proved that being an evil, sneering, moustache-twirling villain pays when and where it counts. The Summer League 2026 Final is now set, with ‘Willuigis’ looking to FINALLY stomp out their nemesis nuisance, Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’.
Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon finished their regular season run with a convincing 4-0 win over Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue, and that result vaulted the former from the six seed to the three seed, and kept the latter from capturing the two seed. A regular season win (convincing, or not) is a good thing, improved playoff seeding is also a good thing, but a playoff win is a great thing, and Blue hoped to serve up some piping hot playoff revenge as two overseeds battled for the right to (immediately) turn and face top-seeded Purple. A scoreless first gave way to a very scoreful™ second, with Captain Schonbrun first to act, scoring a goal of his own at 9:12 (Josh Tran & Shawna Hamon), then providing the lone helper on Josh Tran’s tally just sixteen ticks later. Brendan Jew (5:53) and Kyle Snyder (4:10) tacked on unassisted padding later in the period, and John Kushneryk gave Neon no foothold to climb back into the fray prior to the second break. In fact, Kushneryk (21/21) would leave Neon with no goals at all and (if you’re an advanced mathematician like your humble author), thereby no chance to prevail. Captain Schonbrun’s second of the game at 5:52 (Hamon) in the third was the fifth nail in a one-nail-will-do coffin, as Blue cruised to a 5-0 win to avenge their regular season loss to Neon and eliminate Vankoughnett & Company from Cup contention. Don Tran (24/29) shouldered the loss, but can take solace in knowing that even a goal or two in support would not have mattered…he and his mates were outdone in large part by his counterpart’s clean sheet. Neon exist the playoffs just ‘out of the medals’ in fourth, while Blue grabbed a seat, swigged some Gatorade, and readied themselves for a battle with Purple…
Blue did not fair much better against Purple than they did against Neon in the regular season, dropping a 4-1 Week Five meeting to the Cup favorites in spite of perfect attendance on their side, and an absent Trevor Vick on the other. Schonbrun’s ‘Blue Schelbies’ hoped for a second scoop of revenge in the playoff rematch, after shaking out the lactic acid buildup from their first match, and preparing to take the court again to face Captain Teglia’s rested and ready juggernaut. While I don’t know that we have ever studied this phenomenon, the ‘tired team’ tends to acquit themselves quite well in the second game of Week Four playoff play. There’s something to be said for the mental and physical warmup that the first game provides, I suppose. Whatever the verdict in that unaired episode of Myth Busters may be, neither side managed to break the scoring seal in another scoreless first (we may have a new trend, folks!). The second period saw just one shot find twine, with Tim Vick’s second of the playoffs at 7:03 (Captain Teglia) representing the first ball past Kushneryk all night. JK’s 21/21 in the opener was child’s play compared to the TWENTY-SEVEN shot onslaught he faced through just two periods of play in this one, but…sometimes even one goal is enough to carry the day. Kyle Snyder found that ‘one goal’ for Blue, converting at 8:32 in the third (Captain Schonbrun & Hamon) to put both teams on even footing with a ticket to the Final waiting for whichever team could make the final 8:32 count in their favor. While neither side could find a second goal in that span, the 34-16 shot ledger made clear that Purple was on the front foot and pushing hard to end things, lest they subject themselves to a shootout against the hottest goalie in the universe. Captain William ‘Big Willy T’ Teglia did end things, finding the overtime dagger at 4:38 (Owen Perks & Sadie Hellstrom), and sending Kushneryk (33/35) and Blue out of the playoffs with bronze around their collective necks, 2-1. Call it what you will, but Teglia earned the POTW nod over Blue’s super human netminder. As the POTW blurb notes…’to the victor go the spoils’, and Teglia certainly spoiled the night for JK and a very impressive and fun-to-watch Blue side. It’s on to the Final for Purple, and the storylines are ripe and ready-made for this one. Purple have lost just TWICE all season, but both losses have come by the hands of those spunky seven seeds, Brown. The two will face off for a third, and possibly fourth time this Sunday, with Cup glory waiting for winner, and a not-so-silver-lining silver medal for the other.
It’s fairly rare for a seven seed to make much noise in the SDFHL playoffs, but Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’ picked the perfect time to peak, running their winning streak to four, including three straight playoff wins over the two, three, and one seeds to advance to the Summer League Final.
It’s a bit of a twisted existence serving as a ‘double agent’ in our humble league. As a goalie for one team, and a forward or defender for another, there is obviously potential for some ‘conflict of interest’ elements in any given matchup for one of your two teams, but when your two teams face each other, the laws of the universe dictate that you cannot be two places at once, and the laws of the SDFHL dictate that you will be suited up for your non-goalie team, competing against your ‘other teammates’, and shooting on your substitute at the other end. John Kushneryk is very familiar with all of these dynamics by now, having served in this double capacity for several seasons, but the playoff meetings are the real ‘Sophie’s Choice’ collisions, and John would be both a winner and an (eliminated) loser no matter who prevailed in the Week Three opener between Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue and Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. The former smashed the latter 6-2 back in Week Four, but Grey came in still riding the ‘anything is possible’ rush after a very crazy and very late comeback to eliminate second-seeded Pink the Sunday prior. My new favorite obsession, the ‘scoreless second period’, was preceded by a scoreless first, as neither team’s offense could solve either goalie stand-in (Will Heinl in for Blue in lieu of the aforementioned Kushneryk, and Mason Holcomb in for Grey’s Jon Cima). Kalen Hunter finally broke the scoreless tie at 7:49 in the third (Elyse Shattuck), but Kyle Snyder answered for Blue with an unassisted strike less than a minute later. Josh Tran’s unassisted goal at 4:16 gave Blue their first lead of the game, but Grey drew from their late heroics playbook again, as Hunter’s second of the game at 1:52 (Sean Kelly & Zach Siemer) left the ledger level at 2-2 through three. So, for the first time (!) in nine Summer League 2026 playoff games, we would see extra time. It took just 2:07 of that extra time for Captain Schonbrun to find a loose ball and deposit it behind Holcomb (15/18) (Snyder) to keep Blue alive and kicking, and kick Grey to the playoff curb with a 3-2 OT win. Heinl (16/18) collected the win for the happy/sad Kushneryk, with his ‘Puck Hunt’ team now on the scrap pile, and his ‘Blue Schelbies’ gang now moving on to penultimate week of playoff play.
Another elimination match served as the creamy Week Three middle game, with Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon clashing with Captain Jeremy Copp’s color cousin Orange. Ironically, neither captain would be on hand to go, fight, win (or lose) with their mates…clearly a conscious, cowardly decision on both their parts. I kid…Carl is the only coward here. The soldiers (who actually care about their team’s playoff fate) soldiered on, however, and Private Ryan Karns drew first blood early for Neon, notching his second of the playoffs at 8:41 (Chris Malki & Wendy Enright). It would NOT be a ‘scoreless second’ in the second game, thanks to Justin Hepler’s fourth of the post season campaign at 3:30 (Steph Palomo Schmidt & Andrew Wong). So…the proceedings were proceeding just as the two teams’ regular season statistics would have you imagine, with the second lowest scoring team in the league (Neon, with seventeen…if you subtract Captain Carl’s goals) struggling to pull away from the team with the lowest regular season goal totals (Orange, with fifteen). Couple those no-ffenses with the second and third best defenses through the regular season, and the moral of the story is ‘take the under’. The 1-1 tie held through the first half of the third, but an unassisted, seeing-eye point blast from Gary Peters 4:20 broke that tie and restored the one goal edge for the (slim) favorites. Peters would earn first star of the game honors for that goal, which would stand as the game-winner thanks in large part to the game’s second star, Don Tran (19/20). Matt Henderson (16/18) was saddled with the hard-luck loss, and Orange were shown the playoff door with the tight, tense 2-1 loss. Neon will hope to have ‘Cowardly Carl’ back at the helm in Week Four, as they battle for their playoff lives against Blue, then (should they survive that game) look to bash their way past Purple and on into the Final to face the waiting Brown.
Our Week Three cover team, Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’, were up next, hoping against hope to repeat a feat that no other team in the league had managed to that point…beating Captain William Teglia’s ‘Willuigis’. The attendance asterisk was big and bold for Purple in the slice of ancient history that was the May 10th first meeting between these two, with Owen Perks, Trevor Vick, and Tim Vick all out of the lineup in the 3-2 loss. Those players would ultimately account for eleven of Purple’s thirty goals, and 26/67 total points produced by the top seeds through regular season play. It’s likely overlooked that there was a (perhaps slightly less big and bold) attendance asterisk for Brown in that first showdown, as well, with both Jon Zygelman (later replaced by Matt Rogers), and Mark Nagy out of action. Three months later, with shifted lineups, and the ‘aura’ of playoffs in the air…Purple still stood as favorites in this rematch based on their nine game win streak coming in alone, but Brown had to feel like they had at least a slight psychological edge, with the knowledge that they were the only blemish on an otherwise perfect wire to wire Cup crusade for Purple. When Perks once again failed to appear as warmups wrapped, that ‘slight’ edge was sharpened like that of a fine blade. Leah Gonzales produced the first cut with that blade, slicing home her first of the playoffs at 9:34 (Chris Koziol & Mark Nagy), and Vance Morra doubled the damage with a perfectly placed wrister at 4:06 (Josh Wirt & Mark DeGraffenreid). The ‘shifted lineups’ alluded to earlier in this recap included DeGraffenreid playing defense (!) for Brown in the absence of both Matt Rogers and Greg Wirth. While one would rightfully assume he was on the court for both Captain William Teglia’s goal at 3:17 (Trevor Vick & Tyler Winstead), and Sadie Hellstrom’s tying tally at 0:25 (Teglia & Grant Goins), I can proudly confirm that he (I) was not. NOTE: This is no slight to Ossa and Nagy…I just think it is a miracle that I made it through this game as a ‘plus’. Personal pride and ponderings aside, Purple’s surge shook Brown’s two goal lead away like an Etch-A-Sketch, and left the upstart seven seeds questioning their fate. Any such faltering faith questions are often expertly handled by one Mr. Josh Wirt, and Wirt had an answer again, converting just SIX seconds after the Hellstrom marker to restore Brown’s lead through a wacky, wild, Kool-Aid style first. The second period was…wait for it…scoreless (!), with Mason Holcomb (21/23) turning aside all remaining Purple challenges as the clock wound toward zeroes. With Will Heinl (12/15) pulled for an extra attacker, Wirt won a defensive zone draw cleanly to Morra, who promptly airmailed the ball the length of the court and into the empty net. Wirt earned first star of the game honors for his 1 and 2 (and what I believe to be a PERFECT faceoff win percentage, to boot), but Morra’s two goals, including the exhale-inducing long range curler to ice the 4-2 win for Brown earned him the POTW nod. Purple’s second loss to Brown has them relegated to Week Four play, where they await the survivor of Neon v Blue. Should they prevail this Sunday, it will be one final date, and possibly two final games with Brown with the Cup on the line on August 23rd.
Captain Lena Amelang’s ‘Kirby Enthusiasm’ were wounded ducks after a stunning 3-2 loss to seventh-seeded Brown in their first playoff outing, and Captain Zach Siemer’s ‘Puck Hunt’ delivered the final fatal blow to Pink’s playoff migration with Old Man Linke’s true and timely trigger pull with 0:01 to play.
When you scrape into the playoffs as the bottom seed, your chances are slim, your hopes are low, and it’s probably best to view the playoffs as a few bonus games…a chance to get some extra elements and exercise. Competitive nature being what it is, however, Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green clearly had designs on turning their first such ‘bonus game’ into a statement shocker, keeping the Cup favorites on the cusp of a colossal coup until the final minute of play in a 4-2 loss. Week Two would prove whether Green gained any meaningful momentum (even in the moral victory/morale sense) from their Week One exploits, or whether Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange would bring their (mostly) dormant, but potentially dominant offense to bear in a kill or be killed second showdown. The sublime poetry of the SDFHL schedule being what it is, it was the Week Nine meeting between these two teams that produced the 2-2 tie that pushed Green into the playoffs in the first place. A first playoff win for Green would leave Orange in the Summer 2026 history book as both Green’s playoff table booster seat and eventual springboard beyond the first round of knockouts. Orange wasted little time ‘correcting’ any concept of that narrative, scoring four unanswered goals in the first to clearly establish that glass slippers are easily shattered (and, honestly…how painful would a glass shoe be, anyway). Justin Hepler opened the floodgates with an unassisted strike at 7:05, then followed with a second at 5:40 (Aaron Cooney & Jim LaGrossa). The baton was then passed to ‘The Other Justin’™, with Mr. Stege’s unassisted first of the game at 1:45 making it 3-0, and his second at 0:04 (Cooney) pushing the lead to four. The bleeding slowed, but was not completely staunched for Green in the second, as Jim LaGrossa added a fifth for Orange at 1:53 (Hepler), removing any lingering hopes of a stirring comeback. Cooney’s first of the playoffs at 7:00 in the third pushed the lead to half a dozen, which is about when I arrived at the rink to find a surprisingly loose and joyous Green bench. It was really great to see, honestly…a team that had struggled and scraped through a tough season, finally finding a will and a way to push into the playoffs in the final minutes of regular season play, now resigned to their two-and-out fate, but not letting defeat define them…just enjoying the final period of playing together, and rooting hard for at least ONE goal…one last hurrah. Ty Pereira provided that curtain call at 1:11 (Alex Rockoff & Jordan Pynn), finally answering the Orange spate, and serving up one last sniff of joy for Green in an otherwise futile and forgettable 6-1 loss. Matt Henderson (18/19) lost his shutout, but secured the win with another solid effort, while Gabe Davenport (15/21) shouldered a second straight loss to put an end to his first taste of playoff play. Green officially became the first playoff casualty, while Orange march on to face color neighbors, Neon, in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday.
Stumbling and staggering into the second season as the seven seeds should not have inspired much more spirit and optimism in the ranks of Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’ than Captain Nguyen’s Green coming into playoff play, but a rousing 3-2 last-minute takedown of second-seeded Pink in their opener had Brown thinking about a sneaky end-run to Cup glory. After all, Brown had now toppled number two Pink twice, and (attendance asterisk aside) boasted the only win by any team over top-seeded Purple. The rub…they also lost 6-3 in the regular season to both the four seeds, Blue, and the three seeds, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon. The latter was up first on the ladder to the Cup Final, and Ossa & Company hoped for a better effort and a better result in the second go. As noted time and again in these recaps, there is nothing quite as devastating to a team as surrendering a last-second goal, and perhaps nothing as uplifting for the team that scores one. Josh Wirt did that very deed for Brown, finishing a breakaway chance at 0:01 (Matt Rogers) to shock Neon and put Brown in front first. A quick early second period response from Ryan Karns (9:16, from Joe Malki and Wendy Enright) had the favorites back on even footing, but (ironically) it was Karns’ ‘footing’ that would deflect Captain Ossa’s point shot home at 1:24 to push Brown back in front heading into the second break. Both teams pressed throughout the third, trading chances and generally keeping the Kalshi users among us on edge…even Josh Wirt’s second of the game at 4:44 (Ossa & Mark Nagy) did not feel like a ‘deal-sealer’ for Brown. Mason Holcomb (23/24) was a deal sealer, however, stopping all but one shot he faced to continue his (particularly) strong recently streak of play and preserve the 3-1 upset win for Brown. Don Tran (15/18) absorbed the loss for Neon, who suddenly find themselves flipped to the Losers’ Bracket to battle it out with yucky lower seeds. They will hope to bounce back, remain alive in the hunt, and avenge their 3-2 Week Four loss to Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange this week, while upstart Brown look to shock the league and complete a 2-3-1 gauntlet to the Cup catbird seat if they can find a way past Purple.
So…dead horse and all, but surrendering a last-minute goal in the first or second period of a game…brutal. A last-minute goal that is also a game-winner for them and game-loser for you…devastating. A last-second goal…rare, but obviously an exponentially higher reading on the Gut Punch-O-Meter™. But…a last-second goal to lose a game and also eliminate you from playoff contention is quite another thing entirely…we are going to need a new O-Meter for that. So was written the fabulously unfortunate fate of Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink. After falling to Brown on a game-winning goal with 0:15 to play in their first playoff outing, the universe would up the heartbreak ante for ‘Kirby Enthusiasm’ with, yes, a LAST-SECOND SEASON ENDER against Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. Actually, as tough to swallow as a buzzer beating bye bye may be, Pink’s path in this one was even more pathetic. Kalen Hunter returned to scoring form at 5:39 in the first (Captain Siemer), but Pink quickly equalized (Steve Goncalo from Brennen Abel at 3:37), and ultimately wrested away the lead (Eric Willard from Abel at 1:36) to put the favorites in favored position heading into the second. A scoreless second (another ‘scoreless second’), meant an all-the-marbles third, and Kalen shot (and scored) first again to knot the score at 2-2 with an unassisted second of the game with 5:22 to play. Captain Amelang was next to act, picking an absolutely perfect time to pot her second goal in as many playoff games (after registering zero points otherwise, all season). The Captain’s strike at 4:27 (Scott Wieland & Abel) could hardly have felt decisive at the time, but as the clock wound towards 0:00, the second seeds must have felt a swelling swell of vindication from their shocking late loss the Sunday prior. Shocking late loss, you say (well…I type)? With just 1:02 on the clock…Grey’s John Kushneryk completely rips off Pink’s late loss scab with a stunner to tie it at three apiece (Kevin Hunter). Unreal…another reversal of fortune on the very verge of victory for Pink. At least they could rest easy knowing that the score was merely tied, and with the clock finding it’s way to 0:01, surely they would find a way to persevere and prevail in over ti…OMFG! Steve P Linke…posted up back door…Kalen Hunter circling and cycling with the ball, a gaggle of defenders drawn…pass…shot…GOAL! ONE SECOND left…Linke from Kalen Hunter and Sean Kelly to absolutely gobsmack Pink and smack them out of the playoff picture with a ghastly 4-3 stunner. Pink’s entire season…down in flames, really putting the F-U in FortUne with perhaps the heartbreakingest combined 1:17 of choking chaos over their very abbreviated two-and-out dead end run. Mason Holcomb (10/13) collected the win in Jon Cima’s stead, while Chuck Bender (12/16) must bear the brunt of the Pink nightmare in his brain for the coming month with the offseason now thrust upon him and his mates. The crazy coup pushes Grey onward in the Loser’s Bracket to face the four seeds, Blue, who smashed them in convincing 6-2 fashion back in Week Four. Captain Eli Schonbrun & Company would do well to temper confidence and expectation in the rematch, though…even if they should find themselves with a late lead this Sunday….
Captain William Teglia and his (heavy) Cup favorite Purple sought to serve further evidence that they were/are the ‘team of destiny’ that Pink most certainly were not, riding their 7-1-0 regular season record and an opening round win over Green into battle against Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue. Teglia & Company certainly had their way with Blue in the Week Five regular season meeting, prevailing 4-1 in spite of Trevor Vick’s absence, but the playoffs are (or, at least should be) a different animal, and this postseason was proving as well (or better) as others that upsets can and will happen. Brendan Jew wrote the first line in that flipped script with his third of the playoffs at 5:31 in the first (Jason Lee), but it was Trevor Vick making his post season presence felt where his regular season absence was not with the tying tally at 1:50 (Owen Perks). Perks would push Purple in front for the first time at 5:08, with The Vick Boys™ (Trevor and Tim, in that order) providing the set up on the go-ahead goal. By all accounts, including those at Kelly’s this week, and further supported by the close shot count (15-13 in Purple’s favor, at game’s end), this was a VERY good game…highly competitive, clean, and well-played by both sides from start to finish. There would be no late heroics, and no last-second let down in this one, though, as Will Heinl (12/13) and Purple would hold strong to best Blue 2-1 to advance to the Winners’ Bracket Final. The loss relegates Blue to the repêchage (a vocab word I only learned from, and only ever hear during the Summer Olympics), where John Kushneryk (13/15) will face his own substitute in nets as he patrols the blue line for his other team, Grey. A close game against a strong Blue side is one thing, but Purple certainly seem poised to stick the landing on their consistently dominant season-long death march. They will look to avenge their one and only loss (a short-staffed 3-2 fall to Brown in Week One) this Sunday, and should they take care of business and reserve the sitting position in the Final, it is hard to imagine any other team rising up to beat them in back-to-back battles come August 23rd.
Captain Rob Gaudio’s ‘Red Joshi’ mounted a stirring late comeback to snatch a win over Grey in the Week Nine nightcap and Summer League 2026 regular season finale, but unfortunately for Red, an equally inspired Green 1-Up in the early game meant GAME OVER before their game even began. The playoff field is now set, with the first level set to start this Sunday…
The final piece of the Summer League 2026 playoff picture would fall into place based on the results of the first and last games on the Week Nine slate. More accurately, that piece COULD fall securely into place at the conclusion of the first game, but only if Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green managed to secure a point against Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange. A tie would leave Green at 2-5-1, and while Red could match that record exactly with a win over Grey in the nightcap, Nguyen & Company held the all-important head-to-head token over Red. For Orange, a win could boost them as high as the second seed, while a loss could drop them as low as seven. Suffice it to say that Red was hoping for the former result, but hope without the ability to act is often a tragically frustrating endeavor…they would NEED Orange to complete phase one of their death bed redemption. Jackson Tomaszewski struck the first blow against that end, putting Green in front with his third of the season at 7:11 in the first (Ty Pereira & Nick Vacchio), but a neck-brace-sporting TK Mason would equalize with a nifty deflection goal for Orange at 3:19 (Aaron Cooney & Chris Fiore). Red’s hopes rose in the second, with Justin Hepler scoring the only goal of the period at 3:13 (Cooney & Mason), and with time winding past the halfway mark in the third, it looked like Green would remain at risk of elimination and Red would remain alive and hopeful. Enter Jason Olver…the steady second season player…in…shot…score…3:13 on the tying goal (Chris Tran & Dorothy Kline) to swell Green’s hearts and pierce Red’s with a 2-2 tie-making tally. Gabe Davenport (7/9), fresh off his first win of the season over Brown the Sunday prior, held steady the rest of the way, and was understandably exuberant as the final whistle rang out in the 2-2 tie that meant an official playoff berth for Green, and a first ever personal playoff appearance for the young goalie. Matt Henderson (16/18) was twice as busy, but equally rewarded for his efforts, and while Mason captured first star of the game honors for her 1 and 1 gem, Olver was named POTW for the impact that his lone goal had on not just this game, but the season itself for both Green and Red. Green are certainly happy to have made it to the second season, but are likely less thrilled to see top-seeded Purple on the books as their first opponent. The Week Four regular season meeting between these two ended in a 5-0 win for the odds on Cup favorites, but…you never know. Orange settle into the five seed with the tie, and will face Blue in their first playoff action, with Orange having bested Blue 3-2 in their first meeting back in Week Eight.
I’ll refrain from suggesting an inappropriate nickname for the clash between Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink and Captain Bryan Ossa’s Brown, but suffice it to say that Brown was not favored by most, and Pink seemed the likelier choice (to win this game, of course). By some small miracle, Brown had somehow managed to cobble together the points and tiebreakers needed to qualify for the playoffs coming in, in spite of now finding themselves tied in points with Green, a team that blew them out 7-3 the Sunday prior after struggling the entire season to find any footing at all. Pink, by contrast, entered at 4-2-1, unable to snatch the top spot from Purple, but virtually assured of the second seed, regardless of the outcome of this final foray. So, with minimal team stakes in play, this game was perhaps more about the personal statistical jockeying. Pink’s Brennen Abel entered as the leader on the scoring table with 19 points (7 and 12), while Brown’s Josh Wirt lurked nearby with 17 (6 and 11). With William Teglia already idle in the clubhouse with 17 (9 and 8), and no other player quite in striking range of the scoring crown, it would come down to Abel v Wirt in this Week Nine clash. Chris Koziol put Brown on the board first at 8:11 in the first (Josh Wirt & Mark Nagy), and Nagy doubled Brown’s lead on the powerplay at 4:48 (Wirt). Eric Willard cut that lead in half with his ninth of the season unassisted at 3:11, and Abel drew Pink level with just 0:19 to play before the first break (Andy Strathman & Joel Gattey). So, after ten minutes of play, the live scoring standings had Wirt at 19 points (6 and 13) and Abel at 20 (8 and 12). The second period featured just one goal…a second Koziol strike at 4:53 to put Brown on top, and with Wirt collecting the lone assist, the two lead horses in the scoring race now sat DEAD EVEN. Abel evened the score for Pink, and restored his scoring lead with his ninth of the season at 8:39 (Scott Wieland), but a pair of goals from Mark DeGraffenreid…7:53 (Nagy & Wirt) and 5:31 (Wirt) carried Brown to a two goal lead, and Wirt to a 22-21 lead in the scoring race with just half a period to play. With Chuck Bender (21/26) pulled, Andy Strathman would find twine at 1:28, and…who else would have the helper but Mr. Abel. The late score certainly put a scare into Brown, but Mason Holcomb (23/27) and his mates would white-knuckle a 5-4 win to close out their season on a high note and (ultimately) secure the seven seed. With the dust settled, Wirt’s FIVE assist effort and Abel’s two-and-one turn meant that the gap had been closed, and the league would crown co-scoring champs for the Summer 2026 season…CONGRATULATIONS, Brennen and Josh! In spite of their struggles this season, DeGraffenreid’s 10 and 6 output was good enough for fourth in scoring, meaning that Brown boast two of the top four scorers in the league. Time will (quickly) tell if this makes them a dangerous playoff side of not, with the first test coming in an instant rematch of these two teams this Sunday…
Both Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s 3-3-1 Neon and Captain Eli Schonbrun’s 4-3-0 Blue were already safely nestled on playoff perches coming into the final week of regular season play, but a win would lift Neon to a third place finish, and a win for Blue would mean sole possession of the second seed and some much needed momentum for perhaps this season’s most Jekyll & Hyde squad. It was all Captain Carl out of the gate in this one, with Vankoughnett converting at 7:16 in the first (Gary Peters), scoring again at 5:17 (Janice Darlington & Ryan Karns), then providing the lone assist on a Joe Malki powerplay strike at 0:43 to pace Neon to a 3-0 lead through one. I feel like I type ‘…a scoreless second period…’ multiple times each week, and while this ‘scoreless second’ was the first of Week Nine play, it was the first of two on the night…I feel like perhaps this needs to be studied. The third period would not pass scoreless, but would feature just one goal…Gary Peters’ third of the season at 6:40 (Joe Malki & Wendy Enright) to put the icing on a 4-0 shutout win for Neon. Don Tran (15/15) earned second star honors with his first blanking of the campaign, and while John Kushneryk (14/18) and Blue absorbed the loss, their 4-4-0 mark left them (fittingly) the four seeds, smack in the middle of the playoff pile, and eager to prove themselves with a clean slate, with an intriguing rematch with Orange the first course on their playoff plate. Neon will face Grey in their first taste of playoff play, and while they secured a 3-1 win over Captain Siemer’s team in their Week Seven meeting, that result can hardly be considered telling, given that absence of (quite literally) half of Grey’s roster, including stud striker, Kalen Hunter.
Green’s heroic one point conquest in the early game sucked all of the drama out of what would have been a VERY high stakes nightcap. While Captain Rob Gaudio’s Red knew in warmups that they had nothing left to play for, they certainly did not play like a dead team walking. Captain Gaudio led by example and led the charge for his team, scoring his seventh of the season at 6:48 in the first (Wasif Hussain). Captain Siemer would not be outshined by his counterpart, however, with the Zach Attack™ resulting in the skipper’s FIRST goal of the season at 4:53 (Kristin Sigler & Steve Linke) to bring Grey level heading into the first break. Another scoreless second (see…it’s a thing!) set up a thrilling third that saw Grey take their first lead on a Sean Kelly goal with 5:10 to play (Captain Siemer & Elyse Shattuck), then…one final, furious death rattle push from Red. Namesake (at least in part), Hima Joshi, notched her second of the season at 1:47 (Mostafa Azab & Hussain) to pull Red back to level ground, and with just seventeen ticks left on the clock, it was Captain Gaudio again…leading and leaving by example with his second of the game to vault Red to a 3-2 win ‘at the death’ (just wringing the last of the World Cup terminology out of my system). Erin Plone and Darin Cerasuolo would register assists on perhaps the most tragically ‘meaningless’ goal in league history. If Orange had managed to hold on and defeat Green in the 5:00 game, this goal would have been THE moment of the season for any team…an absolutely vital dagger to eliminate Green and save Red’s season. Alas…a nice story, in the moment, but really…sadly…just a ‘meaningless’ goal in a ‘meaningless’ win. Don Tran (10/12) backstopped the win (meaningless, or otherwise) in relief of newlywed, Nick Meglich (CONGRATULATIONS, NICK!), while Chuck Bender (12/15) shouldered the (meaningless) loss in his 500th sub stint of the season. Grey would really love to see Kalen Hunter in the lineup against Neon this Sunday. Siemer & Company were without their super star in this loss, and this loss marks their third straight without the league’s top goal scorer in the mix. That’s right, folks…Kalen missed the final three games of the regular season, and STILL topped the goal scoring charts with eleven…I suppose that is impressive.
So, you are kicking Bowser’s ass in one of the myriad Mario installments, and after doing sufficient damage, you think the battle is over…but he just gets angrier, breaks out more moves, and throws more chaos at you. Even when you FINALLY vanquish him…he is just back and badder than ever in the next iteration. Captain Bao Nguyen’s (NC-17) ‘Getting Piped By Bao-Ser’ namesake incarnation seem to be following in their favorite fanged foe’s footsteps, having saved seven giant fireballs for Brown in a HUGE 7-3 win, and turning a seven week struggle that looked to be leading to a regular season ‘GAME OVER’ into the very real possibility of an extra life…
Our Week Eight cover team hit the court first, as Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green set out to secure vital points in their cut line chicken fight with idle Red. Nguyen & Company did not hate the matchup with Captain Bryan Ossa’s Brown, a team sitting at 2-3-1, but one that had struggled mightily prior to a Week Six tie with an understaffed Orange and an 8-5 slugfest decision over the aforementioned Red. A win would not only vault Green over Red and into playoff position, but would also allow them to control their own destiny in their regular season finale against Orange. For Brown, a playoff berth was (just BARELY) assured coming in, but an honest effort against one of two teams still fighting to get into second season play, a chance to even their record at .500, and (of course) personal points and pride were sufficient drivers. Jenna Chercoe broke the scoring seal at 7:16, completing a nifty passing play to notch her second of the season (Jackson Tomaszewski & Ty Pereira), but Mark DeGraffenreid would equalize for Brown exactly three minutes later (Greg Wirth). Tomaszewski recaptured the lead for Green with his first (!) of the season at 4:07 (Pereira), and doubled the lead with his second at 3:34 (Chris Tran & Pereira). Tomaszewski switched from his scoring hand to his helping hand in the second, providing the lone assist on Chris Tran’s goal at 7:53 to push Green’s lead to three. Leah Gonzales buried her second of the season at 7:22 (Vance Morra & Josh Wirt), and combined with her five assists to this point, Gonzales now sits just one point back of Sadie Hellstrom for the female scoring lead. Newcomer Alex Rockhoff was next to act, restoring Green’s three goal advantage with his second of the season at 6:23 (Jason Olver & Tran) before DeGraffenreid made good on a perfect attacking zone draw from Wirt to slice it back to two with his second of the game at 5:05. Brown would get no closer, thanks to our POTW, Gabe Davenport (18/21). A second Rockhoff strike at 5:02 in the third (Olver & Shawna Hamon) and a buzzer-beating-empty-netter from Jordan Pynn (Pereira) made the final score a bit harder on the eyes for Brown, but Davenport deserves a good deal of the credit for providing his team with calm and confidence with his first winning performance of the season. CONGRATULATIONS, GABE! Mason Holcomb (23/29) was very, very solid, as always, but Brown will need to sort their defensive zone play out if the hope to help him help them make a serious playoff push. The 7-3 for Green jumps them above the cut line, and even a draw with Orange will give them what they need to book playoff passage. Only a loss to Orange AND a Red win over Grey in the final game of the regular season can break the glass slipper for this Cinderella squad.
The second game on the Week Eight slate felt like a dress rehearsal for Saved By The Bell (shout out, Don Tran), with Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon tussling with Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink. I’m not sure which team was playing the role of ‘preppy’ and which ‘jock’, but this was a ‘good episode’, by all accounts. Both teams sat comfortably in playoff position coming in, but with twin 3-2-1 records, this would serve as a good ‘measuring stick’ match. Well, perhaps a not-perfectly-calibrated measuring stick, given the absence of Joel Gattey and Scott Wieland for Pink and Joe Malki and Parsa Mostafavi for Neon. At the very least, it was another opportunity for Brennan Abel to protect his perch at the top of the scoring charts, and he did not waste much time adding a seventh goal to his season total, putting Pink in front first at 7:37 in the first (Emily Bennington & Rob LaVigne). Gary Peters brought Neon level with a point blast at 1:12 (Vinny Santora & Chris Malki), sending both BRIGHT sides to their benches for the first break on even footing. That footing remained level through a scoreless second, in spite of Pink holding a 7-2 edge in shots, and while Neon flipped the shot script in the third (11-8, in their favor), it was Pink who would do the only damage. Rob LaVigne scored his first of the season in short-handed fashion on an Abel assist at 6:15, and another strong effort from Chuck Bender (18/19) forced Neon to pull Don Tran (18/20), which ultimately led to a Steve Goncalo empty-netter to seal it at 0:34 (Abel). The 3-1 win moves Pink into sole possession of second place at 4-2-1, with no chance to catch Purple, but ample opportunity to tumble a spot or two, depending on a number of Week Nine results. Abel’s 1 and 2 effort has the Young Canuck™ scoring stud at nineteen points (7 and 12), just two points north of Purple Captain William Teglia and a Brown’s surging sniper, Josh Wirt. So, while there may be little beyond improved playoff position at stake this Sunday, there is certainly a fair amount of individual intrigue left to unfurl.
It has been something of a Tale Of Two Seasons for Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue. After racing out to a 3-0-0 start, with three straight six-goal efforts in wins that saw them outscore opponents 18-9, Blue limped and languished through a 1-3-0 stretch that included a shocking 4-3 loss to Red, and a skin-of-teeth 2-1 win over Green. If you’re going to have a feast or famine regular season, you really want the famine early and the feast late, but Blue would settle for anything to settle the butterflies in their collective playoff stomach as they turned to face Captain Jeremy Copp’s 2-3-1 Orange. Jason Lee led the charge for Blue, finishing a breakaway chance at 6:38 (Adam Schindler & Jason Northrup), but Orange would charge back on the strength of goals from Justin Hepler at 6:03 (Chris Fiore) and Captain Copp at 5:22 (Hepler & TK Mason). A scoreless middle frame set up a for-all-the-marbles third, and Justin Stege made his third marble of the season count at 4:05 (Fiore) to plump Orange’s lead to 3-1. It was Lee again at 3:44 (Kyle Snyder) to keep Blue hustling and hopeful to the end, but Matt Henderson (10/12) would shut the door and seal the 3-2 win for Orange. John Kushneryk (16/19), now once again able to devote his time and attention to the SDFHL after much World Cup globetrotting, would shoulder a second loss in three outings. With Blue now sitting at 4-3-0, this means that Non Kushneryk efforts (3-1-0) have outstripped John Kushneryk efforts (1-2-0) by a considerable measure…I think we have discovered the weak link 🙂 The win evens Orange’s ledger at 3-3-1, and while they could slide up or down the seeding scale in their finale, the more important Week Nine role they will play is potential spoiler for Green/savior for Red. If Orange should defeat Green, it would leave the backdoor to the playoffs open for Red, who would then be in with a win over Grey in the late game.
Captain William ‘Big Willy T™’ Teglia’s Purple had staged a very impressive run to the top coming into Week Eight, bouncing back from an under-gunned 3-2 loss to Brown in their season opener to rattle off six straight wins and find themselves untouchable in the top playoff spot with twelve points. Their Week Nine bye feels a bit poetic and appropriate now, giving the front-runners time to rest on their considerable laurels this Sunday, with nothing left to play for/prove in the regular season. Well…there is always the scoring race, and this tilt with Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey would represent young Captain Teglia’s last chance to add to his impressive fifteen point total coming in (7 and 8) to catch or pass Abel and Wirt in said race, For Siemer & Company…a chance to prove themselves against the top seed, and (perhaps more importantly) prove that they could survive and even thrive in the absence of their superstar, Kalen Hunter. Kalen had accounted for eleven of the sixteen Grey goals in their first six outings, with just one other player on the roster having scored more than one (John Kushneryk…a total of two). His absence posed an obvious challenge for Grey, and Purple is not a team that leaves gifts on the table. Sadie Hellstrom rattled off two goals early in the first…her second of the season at 9:37 (Trevor Vick), and an unassisted third of the season at 7:24. Will Heinl (18/18) remained perfect through two, and Big Willy T posted his first of the game at 6:44 in the second (Hellstrom & Owen Perks) to give Purple a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the third. Captain Teglia would add a second at 6:53 in the third (Chad Goins), and while the two goal effort would leave him short of his first career scoring title with seventeen points (9 and 8), his regular season run was nothing short of great, and Purple’s 4-0 win makes them nothing short of overwhelming Cup favorites as they head into their bye. Hellstrom’s 2 and 1 earned her first start of the game honors, and (as noted in the earlier recap) keep her one point clear of Brown’s Leah Gonzales for the regular season female scoring crown. Chuck Bender (16/20) once AGAIN stayed late to cover for Jon Cima, absorbing what felt like an inevitable loss, especially with Young Kalen elsewhere. Purple will sit by the pool sipping lemonade this Sunday, while Grey carry the important role of playoff jury/executioner in the final game of the regular season against the only team not currently parked in the playoff lot, Red.
