Squidward & Upward

Captain Kalen Hunter’s ‘Squidward Kalenmari, Inc.’ remained undefeated through three weeks of playoff play, and as there are no ties in playoff hockey, that can only mean that the terrific two seeds are on to the Wing League 2026 Final. Pat Gladstone paced the 3-1 win over their rivals, earning Black a bye, while Red, Pink, and Sand engage in a ménage de la mort this Sunday to produce one final challenger…

Week Three playoff action kicked off with the first of two elimination games, as Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink squared off against Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold. A 3-0 Week Eight win over Pink actually served as a major stepping stone to playoff safety for Gold, but the absence of key Pink personnel in that regular season meeting (Chris Tran, Shelby Shattuck, and Captain Cerasuolo himself) was enough of an ‘asterisk’ to dismiss any real or perceived advantage for Vacchio’s underseeds in the playoff rematch. My personal betting brain had Pink as three goal favorites in this one, but an impressive Gold effort cost me that wager (I’ll make rent somehow) and made for a very tight tussle to open the slate. A scoreless first echoed into a scoreless second, and the near-level shot counts (13-12, in Pink’s favor) further supported the sense that this game was up for grabs heading into the third. Gold outshot Pink 6-3 in that final frame, but only one shot counted for either side…Chris Tran’s first of the playoffs with 7:07 to play (Captain Cerasuolo & Tony Thinh). John Kushneryk (15/16) probably saw more ‘quality chances’ than his counterpart, Chuck Bender (18/18), but none of that nuance makes the box score, which would clearly register a 1-0 win for Pink. Vacchio & Company’s Cup run was ultimately (and unsurprisingly) undone by a lack of scoring — Gold finished second to last with just twenty tallies through the regular season (Blue last with nineteen), then performed a playoff encore of just two goals in the two games coming into their fated (rotten) goose egg ending. The win, however ‘unconvincing’, moves Pink on to the Losers’ Bracket Final this Sunday. Spoiler alert…they will hope to dispatch Red, then slip past Sand to earn a seat in the Final on May 3rd. The bad news for Pink…they are 0-4 against the other three teams still alive in the playoff race (credit to Anthony Cerasuolo for this little gem).

The only non-elimination game of the evening was up next, with Captain Nick Meglich’s #1 Sand facing off against Captain Kalen’s #2 Black. A meeting of the top two seeds in the Winners’ Bracket Final is, of course, expected most seasons, but seemed particularly fated this time around. The teams tied 1-1 back in Week Four, and while Sand captured the higher seed by virtue of the ‘number of wins’ tie breaker, Black remained the only team to boast a completely clean L column, coming in. So…two heavyweights…back in the ring…no option to tie…winner earns a Week Four bye and advances to the Final…loser must earn one more win to earn a chance at redemption/revenge. Sand leveraged their seeding advantage to ensure that Alex Giummo would be able to play, hoping to prevent a complete mismatch with Tim and Trevor Vick already scheduled to miss. Captain Kalen was a casualty of this scheduling circumstance, and with Austin Szymanski also unexpectedly out for Black, the sense was that at least some semblance of balance was restored for this encore encounter. Josh Tran kept his piping hot playoff play sizzling, wristing the game’s first goal home from range to put Black on top first at 8:01 in the first (John Kushneryk). With neither of The Vick Boys™ to account for, Black kept their focus firmly fixed on stopping Giummo, but as everyone who has tried to stop him knows, this is perhaps the most obvious case of ‘easier said than done’ in the history of history. Giummo registered more evidence to that adage, swooping into the attacking zone, shedding a defender, then chopping broccoli in the slot and making Sean Kelly look like a dizzy bear on roller skates to even the score at ones with just 0:14 to go to the first break. A scoreless second saw Black survive any further Giummo gymnastics, and the playoff rematch marched on about as expected, 1-1 through two. Enter Pat Gladstone…our newly-crowned POTW, tucking a rebound past Meglich to recapture the lead for Black at 8:41 (Mark DeGraffenreid and Tran), then collecting the primary on DeGraffenreid’s wrap around insurance strike at 5:09 (Kushneryk with the secondary). The wave of relief that washed over Black’s bench was nearly palpable, but the tide quickly ebbed, replaced by the fear that Giummo would be dialed up all the more for the final five minutes of play. Incredibly enough, Sand mustered just two shots through the entire third period, and by ‘incredibly enough’, I mean ‘owing to some very intense and effective defensive play from the likes of Kushneryk, Arnold Gonzales, and Kevin Hunter’. Kelly (13/14) & Company would wrap the 3-1 win, vaulting themselves into the Final, and securing an important bye week this Sunday (Captain Kalen would have missed that game, as well). Sand remain very much alive (and now all the more determined, no doubt) as they gear up to face the winner of Red v Pink this Sunday. A win against the tired team that comes out of that first game will set up an epic finale, but no one should be counting out an upset that would see a new challenger enter the ring in the final week of playoff play.

Elimination (avoidance, thereof) was the motivation once again in the late game, with Captain William Teglia’s #4 Teal taking on Captain Josh Wirt’s #8 Red. The Week Seven regular season meeting ended in a 1-1 tie, but this was the infamous ‘Tucson Tournament’ Sunday, which saw meant no Eli Schonbrun for Red, and no Kyle Snyder and Chris Fiore for Teal. With all players present and accounted for on both sides, one might assume that Teal would be favored in the playoff rematch, but Red’s late season playoff push, and strong showing in their opening playoff loss to Sand (5-4, without Joe Malki/Jason Remple) had Vegas posting this line as ‘even’. Whether or not Red were ‘underdogs’ or not, they were on top early in this one, with Steve Goncalo’s second of the playoffs coming at 7:47 (Emily Bennington & Bryan Ossa). Shawna Hamon doubled Red’s edge at 1:47 in the first (Jason Remple), making both of Red’s two shots in the period count! Yes, Teal outshot Red 6-2 in the first, then 9-1 in the second (!), but Don Tran was a man with a plan, and that plan (apparently) did not include allowing any goals in this game. The shout count evened at four a side in the third, but once again, only Red shots found a nest in the nets. Captain Wirt provided some extra breathing room with his third of the playoffs at 5:24 (Schonbrun), then added an unassisted empty-netter at 0:31 to pound the final nail in Teal’s playoff coffin and seal the 4-0 win for Red. Tran’s novel ‘no goal’ plan was executed to 19/19 perfection, earning him first star of the game honors, and further fueling the surge of swagger and confidence that the Cinderella bottom seeds have been enjoying over the past month or so. The 3/6 line looks rough for Teal’s Jon Cima, but you can’t win a playoff hockey game 0-0, so this result should be more about a cap tip to Tran’s play and Red’s resolve as a team than anything else. Teal become the fourth playoff victim, joining Gold, Blue, and Purple, while Red move on to face Pink this Sunday. The winner of this ‘Valentines In April’ matchup will have just a few minutes to catch their breath and wipe their brows before jumping back on the court to face Sand.

Stress Test

If you discount empty-netters, none of the games on the Week Two slate were decided by more than one goal. Everything is tightening up, and with the first upset of this postseason also in the books, no team is safe from the specter of loss…

Week One of the Wing League 2026 went completely ‘by the numbers’, with all of the higher seeds prevailing, and the lower seeds sent packing to the Losers’ Bracket. While both top-seeded Sand and second-seeded Black actually came closest of the four favorites to suffering a first round upset, both stayed on course for what most pundits presume to be a fated date on the doorstep of destiny. Week Two opened with two of those last leg lower seeds hoping to stave off a their own ill fate, and push on in designing their own destiny, as Captain Will Heinl’s Purple faced off against Captain Josh Wirt’s Red. The numbers were lean in warmups for both teams, with Purple missing Ty Pereira, Weston Nawrocki, Sadie Hellstrom, and Captain Heinl himself, while Red found themselves without Chris Malki, Steve Goncalo, and Emily Bennington. Of course, Joe Malki was also out for Red, but had FINALLY been (reliably) replaced by Jason ‘Calves For Days’ Remple. Jenna Chercoe was on to fill Hellstrom’s spot for Purple, and Leah Gonzales tagged in for Bennington, while Mason Holcomb donned the pads early to backfill Captain Heinl’s position in nets. So, a lot of moving/swapped-in parts in this game before the first ball even dropped, but ultimately…not a lot of movement on the scoresheet. Almost no movement, in fact, as a scoreless first bled into a scoreless second, with both teams producing a healthy (albeit, futile) serving of shots (18-18), but neither having anything to show for their efforts. Tom Darlington (of all players) finally broke the scoreless streak with his first of the playoffs with 7:22 to play (Justin Hepler & Jenna Chercoe), and as the clock wound down under a minute to play, it looked as though Wirt’s Red would be one (goal against) and done on this night, and two and out in the playoffs. Enter our intrepid POTW, Eli Schonbrun…0:34 to go…game-tying-season-saving strike (Captain Wirt & Eric Caligiuri)…an absolutely ice cold stunner! The shock and awe from that turn had hardly begun to fade as the first overtime period of this playoffs got underway. Red pressed their house money mojo advantage in the fourth frame, outshooting Purple 6-2, but Holcomb would hold the fort and force the first shootout of this playoff season. Normally, I would give you a shot by shot recap of the shootout, building tension with the results of each round, but this shootout was, frankly, a bit anticlimactic. Enter once again our intrepid POTW, Eli Schonbrun. After Justin Hepler failed to convert on Purple’s first run, Schonbrun shucked, jived, and slid the only goal of the shootout past a sprawling Holcomb to win it for Red. The 2-1 SO win for Red was certainly sublime (and, well, sickening, for Purple), and the thriller set the tone for a night of four close, hard-fought hockey games to come. Don Tran (25/26) was in his finest form in the win, stopping all five Purple shooters in addition to a beastly regulation/OT effort, while Mason Holcomb (27/28) was no less heroic, but much less rewarded for his sparkling sub stint. Purple became the first team to exit the playoff picture, while Red march on to Week Three to face Captain William Teglia’s #3 Teal.

Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold and Captain Owen Perks’ Blue met in the second elimination match of the night, and with the two teams having finished with the same number of points, and having tied 1-1 in their Week Six meeting, the sense was that the capacity crowd at ‘The Ranch’ would be treated to another tight tussle. The absence of Dan Jurgens would certainly damper the confidence that Perks & Company carried with them after nearly upending Black in their playoff opener, while Gold would hope to find themselves on better footing in their second go after being outshot 33-8, and outscored 4-0 by Teal the week prior. The first period saw no scoring, but another lopsided shot count against Gold (9-3), and while the shot gap closed a bit in the second (6-4, in Blue’s favor), it was Gold who would strike gold first. Luke Wolmer lit the lamp at 2:59, depositing the rebound off a shot from…brace yourselves…Andrew Wong! It was just Wong’s seventh career shot on goal (I kid…his career total is likely much lower), and it proved the secret sauce to solving Mason Holcomb and staking Gold to a 1-0 lead. Vinny Santora supplied the second assist on the Wolmer goal, and no further scoring would come from either side until late in the third, when Steve Linke would loop a LONG range wrister into Blue’s empty net at 1:17 to ice the 2-0 Gold victory (Steve Pugliese). John Kushneryk (20/20) was as stout as he was in Gold’s opening loss…a game that saw JK stop 29/33 in vain, and Holcomb (7/8) could only draw consolation in knowing that even a perfect three periods from him would only have meant overtime (and possibly shootout). So…Blue join Purple on the playoff scrapheap, while Gold hope to survive a Week Three elimination encounter with Pink. Gold did defeat Pink 3-0 in Week Eight, but that result came with a massive attendance asterisk for Captain Cerasuolo’s Crew…the overseed remain heavy betting favorites in the playoff rematch.

With the ‘do or die’ portion of the evening over, it was time for a pair of high seed showdowns. First up…Captain William Teglia’s #3 Teal taking on Captain Kalen Hunter’s #2 Black. Black prevailed 2-0 in the Week Three regular season matchup, and while Black had that fact and their (still) undefeated record to feed their confidence, they were certainly not looking past a very tough, hard-charging opponent. Teal’s ‘team’ scoring structure was not much of a departure from that of Sand, with twenty-two of their twenty-eight goals coming off the tape of just two players…Kyle Snyder (12) and Captain Teglia (10). No other player on Teal scored more than once over the course of the regular season, and one of one-goal scorers, Gordon Schmidt, was first to score in this one. Schmidt snapped home a point shot at 5:07 in the first (Snyder & Teglia), and with Teal controlling playing and dominating the shot count (13-5, at period’s end), Black was now REALLY not looking past a very tough, hard-charging opponent. Captain Kalen Hunter posted a response for Black at 2:49 (John Kushneryk), and that 1-1 score would hold through the remaining minutes of the first, and the entirety of the second. Teal fashioned chance after glorious chance in that span, including a breakaway look for both Snyder and Teglia, but Sean Kelly was in full living legend mode in keeping his team on even footing. Josh Tran would convert early in the third period to give Black their first lead of the game (9:08, from Mark DeGraffenreid & Arnold Gonzales), and Black’s team defense found a way to ease the strain on Kelly in the final frame (just a 6-5 shot edge for Teal in the third). Captain Hunter’s empty-netter at 0:56 (Pat Gladstone) allowed for a loud exhale on the Black bench, and a second goalie-less goal by Tran at 0:46 (Captain Hunter & Kelly) removed any further mystery and tension from this one…Black 4-1 over Teal. Kelly’s 29/30 (plus an assist, for good measure) performance was proof positive that his puffy paycheck is well worth the prolific production. Jon Cima (14/16) was certainly solid, but ultimately undone by an all world effort from his counterpart. Black move on to face rival Sand in the Winners’ Bracket Final, while Teal will look to bounce back and claim their first playoff KO against Captain Wirt’s bottom-seeded Red.

The Week Two nightcap was a matchup of the league’s top two regular season scoring factions, with Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand (42 regular season goals) looking to continue their Cup ascent against Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink (33 regular season goals). No other team in the league was able to reach the 30 mark, much less the 40 mark, and oh, by the way, Sand’s Alex Giummo finished the regular season with 30 goals of his own! So, with both goalies padded (and having prayed to their respective deity of choice), the Battle Of The Big Guns™ got underway. A series of three minor penalties, all called against Sand in the span of twenty-two seconds, meant plenty of time and space for Pink’s offense to operate, and Eric Willard finally made Sand pay with his second of the playoffs on the 5 on 3 powerplay at 2:02 in the first (Captain Cerasuolo & Chris Tran). The penalty box stayed empty for both teams in the second, and Giummo filled Sand’s side of the scoresheet with his first of the game unassisted at 9:17, and his second of the game at 6:05 (Tim Vick) to flip the favorites back into their familiar on top position (giggity). Pink pressed hard for the equalizer, and ultimately outshot the one seeds 24-15, but Captain Meglich (23/24) would allow nothing further, and a Tim Vick empty-netter with nine ticks to go capped the 3-1 win for Sand. Chuck Bender (12/14) can thank his mates for keeping the clamps on Sand as well as they did, but…it’s Thanos, people…not much you can do. Pink have plenty of pluck and poise left in them as they turn to face Gold in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday, while Sand salivate over their chance to humble a Kalen-free Black and book passage to the Final.

Bikini Tops

The first week of SDFHL Wing League 2026 playoff action went completely ‘by the numbers’, with every top seed topping their bottom seed opponent. It is actually rather rare for the first round to pass without so much as an OT/SO scare, or at least a minor upset, but the ‘expected’ Week One results set up what should be some great Week Two matches…

Anything can happen once the playoffs start, including everything going exactly ‘as expected’. The ‘expectations’ are, of course, thinnest in the middle of the bracket, and that is where Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s fourth-seeded Pink met Captain Will Heinl’s fifth-seeded Purple. Pink prevailed 5-3 in the regular season matchup between these teams back in Week Four, but Jon Salt was the hero in that game for Pink with a 2 and 2 hammer, and with Salt sidelined for the season (likely several seasons, honestly), it would be up to Jordan Pynn to fill those scoring shoes. It was Pynn’s point shot the found twine first at 2:30 in the first, but not before taking a nifty deflection off TK Mason’s stick (or body…or…something). Tony Thinh accounted for the ‘tic’ of the Thinh-Pynn-Mason tic-tac-toe, and Pynn would add an unassisted goal of his own with 1:08 to play before the first break. Captain Heinl held steady for Purple through a scoreless second, but the 17-7 shot count in Pink’s favor painted a fairly accurate picture of the run of play. Jason Olver’s first career SDFHL playoff goal pushed the Pink lead to three at 7:13 in the third (Mason & Captain Cerasuolo), and Eric Willard added another pad at 4:53 (Chris Tran & Pynn). The Purple push finally came, with Justin Hepler taking a bite out of Chuck Bender’s donut at 3:42 (Jon Zygelman & Janice Darlington), but Captain Cerasuolo was quick to restore order with his first of the playoffs at 2:47 (Olver). A Zygelman tally with 0:14 was of no real consequence, as Bender (13/15) & Company would complete a comfortable 5-2 win to kick off their Cup campaign. Captain Heinl (13/18) shouldered the loss, and Pynn did indeed fill Salt’s scoring shoes with a 1 and 2 first star outing. Mason (whose headshot is GIGANTIC in the box score for some reason) claimed second star honors with a 1 and 1 sparkler. Pink’s reward for a convincing first round win…a deadly date with Sand. Purple will hope to stay alive this Sunday in the lower bracket, this time as the higher seed against Captain Josh Wirt’s Red.

The regular season meeting between Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black and Captain Owen Perks’ Blue was…not close. As important as Black’s offense was in that Week Five 6-1 win, it was Sean Kelly who would earn first start with a 23/24 gem. With Sean Kelly Easter egg hunting elsewhere, Black would turn to super-sub-shot-stopper, Chris Tran, to carry the day. Tran is certainly no slouch, but Blue were likely pleased to see anyone but ‘Da Kid’ between Black’s pipes. Factoring in the fact that both Justin Stege and (leap baby birthday boy) Mark Daquipa were out of the lineup for Blue in the first meeting, and the fact ‘playoffs are a clean slate…anything can happen’, Vegas set the line considerably closer for the postseason rematch between the two Young Canuck™ skippers and their crews. It’s difficult to do much scoring when you muster just two shots, and that was the output from the two seeds through one period of play. Captain Perks, meanwhile, made one of his team’s nine shots count, pushing Blue in front 1-0 at 1:19 in the first (Wasif Hussain & Craig Russell). The shot totals evened at six a side in the second, but the Black scoring siege finally came. Papa Kevin Hunter slotted home a point shot at 8:39 (Mark DeGraffenreid & Josh Tran)…then proceeded to perform perhaps the most ridiculous ‘dad dance’ ever witnessed publicly…it was…it was something. Son/Captain Kalen Hunter snapped home an unassisted wrister from range to give Black their first lead at 5:53, and when Josh Tran completed a third straight successful Black attack at 2:24 (John Kushneryk), it was beginning to look like this game might indeed take the same arc as its regular season counterpart. Super (duper) sub, Shelby Shattuck, stopped the bleeding for Blue with 1:08 to play in the second (Dan Jurgens), arresting Black’s momentum, and setting up a tight final ten. Special shoutout to DeGraffenreid for screening his own goalie/deflecting Shattuck’s shot home. Neither Tran (19/21), nor Mason Holcomb (9/12) would allow another ball by in the third (friendly fire, or otherwise), meaning Black would survive a bit of a scare from their seventh-seeded opponent, moving on in the upper bracket with a 3-2 win. The seeds will snuggle much closer together for both teams this Sunday, with #2 Black taking on #3 Teal, and #7 Blue hoping to stave off elimination against #6 Gold.

SDFHL games featuring perfect attendance on both sides are extremely rare, and the Week Four meeting between Captain William Teglia’s #3 Teal and Captain Nick Vacchio’s #6 Gold was an absence-free precursor to the almost-absence-free encore. Teal edged Gold 4-3 in the regular season meeting, and Teglia & Company hoped that the result of a fair and full fight back in February would translate to a playoff win in April. Gold would be without the services of rookie Andrew MacFarlane, but with the big guns and stalwart shields all in place, Vacchio hoped his plucky seven seeders could pull off the first upset of the opening night playoff slate. Captain Teglia wasted (almost literally) no time putting his team on top, scoring just twenty-five seconds in (Kyle Snyder), and Snyder squeezed (almost literally) all of the time out of the tube at the other end of the period, converting with just eighteen ticks to go to push Teal to a 2-0 lead. Captain Teglia accounted for the lone goal in the second (1:59, from Rob LaVigne and Gordon Schmidt), but it is VERY safe to say that Teal was in full control at that point, now outshooting Gold 18-2 (!). The third period shots (15-6 in Teal’s favor) did not paint a much better picture for the underdogs, but John Kushneryk (29/33) certainly did everything in his power to give Gold a chance. Snyder’s second of the game at 4:55 was the only damage done (Mostafa Azab & Steph Palomo Schmidt), but Jon Cima (8/8) ensured that even the early first period Teglia tally would be all Teal would need to prevail, 4-0 over Gold. The win moves Teal on to a meeting with the only unbeaten team in the league, Black, while Gold will need to find their shooting (and scoring) form against Blue, or find themselves golfing for the coming three Sundays.

The nightcap was the last hope for an upset, and math (#1 Sand v #8 Red) and history (Sand over Red 6-3 in Week Three) were sore subjects (see what I did there) for Captain Josh Wirt & Company. Chris Malki was out of the lineup for that regular season loss, and while Chris was back in the lineup, son Joe was out. With his first baby on the way, Joe is actually checked out for the full run of playoffs, but with Riley Mann installed to fill his spot, Red had at least some confidence that an upset was possible…until Mann failed to show. It’s pretty clear at this point that any Sand opponent needs all of their best scorers, all of their best defenders, an ‘A’ game from all involved, a dash of luck, and a VERY concerted effort to ‘contain’ Alex Giummo to have a chance. So…with a strike in the ‘all of their best scorers’ column, Red knew that an already tall task was an absolute tower of terror. Shawna Hamon eased any fear of heights on Red’s bench, notching her first of the playoffs at 5:51 (Bryan Ossa & Captain Wirt), but (who else) Giummo would respond with an unassisted strike for Sand at 3:45. Captain Wirt wrested the lead back for Red at 6:15 in the second, but it was Giummo again to even the score at 5:17 (Trevor Vick), then Parsa Mostafavi to finally put the overdogs on top at 1:55 (Tim Vick & Matt DeBerry). Wirt would knot it again with his second of the game at 8:54 in the third (Eli Schonbrun & Oss), but the response pattern of Giummo (unassisted at 6:15) and Mostafavi (from Wendy Enright and Giummo at 1:59) saw Sand back in front by two with under two minutes to play. Steve Goncalo responded quickly for Red (1:46, from Schonbrun and Emily Bennington), but Captain Nick Meglich (16/20) and Sand would hold on, shattering Red’s glass slipper with a 5-4 win. Don Tran (18/23) ate the bitter loss for the upstart eight seeds, while Parsa Mostafavi earned POTW honors for his two goal breakout for the presumptive Cup favorites. The big IF hanging over this game…if Red had Riley Mann in the fold, this might have been not only the only upset of Week One, but one of the bigger upsets in league history. With Mann projected to miss this Sunday, as well, he has been replaced (yes, a replacement for the replacement) by Jason Remple. Red hope Remple can help them stay alive in a death match with Purple in Week Two. Sand will look to continue their Cup push with a win over Pink (a feat they only JUST managed by a score of 4-3 back in Week Two of the regular season).

Sand Bagged

Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand hammered home the final nail in White’s coffin in Week Nine, clinching the top playoff seed in the process. Captain Ryan Karns’ Green would finish as the only other regular season casualty after falling to Captain Will Heinl’s Purple in a winner-take-all final fight. The playoff field is now set, and while every team is alive and well with a clean slate, it appears it will take an ocean of effort (and some waves of good fortune) to subvert a Sandy succession to the Wing League 2026 throne…

Three of the five final games of the Wing League 2026 season had major playoff implications, with one or both teams involved needing a tie, a win, help from other teams, or some combination thereof. The only game to feature two teams on the same precarious playoff pontoon came with the Week Nine opener between Captain Will Heinl’s 2-4-2 Purple, and Captain Ryan Karns’ 2-4-2 Green. Both teams would be in with a win, and while Purple would also advance with a tie (holding the head to head tiebreaker over Green), the only truly safe result for Green would be the two point option. A loss left either team exposed to being overtaken by Blue, and also left Green exposed to being overtaken by White, should White stage perhaps the most incredible coup in league history and defeat Sand later in the slate. You can’t win if you can’t score, and Ty Pereira did just that…that…that for Purple in the first. That wasn’t an echo, but rather three goals in the first for Pereira…at 8:36 from Sadie Hellstrom & Bao Nguyen, at 8:06 from Justin Hepler and Nguyen, and at 1:19 from Hepler and Weston Nawrocki. Green would hold Pereira and the rest of the Purple press off the board in the second, but the shot totals through two (24-4 in Purple’s favor!) told the truly tilted tale. Hepler would add a fourth goal with 1:22 to play in the third, and Captain Heinl (10/10) watched his team’s 4-0 winning effort unfold in front of him, knowing that April play was officially unlocked. Pereira’s ‘natural’ hat trick earned him (much deserved) POTW honors, and doubled his season goal total to a very defined and sexy six pack. Matt Henderson (27/31) did everything in his power to will Green to greener playoff pastures, but as a wise man once wrote, ‘you can’t win if you can’t score’. The win vaulted Purple all the way up to fourth in the standings, with some chance of sliding lower in the seeding based on results from the rest of the games. The loss was nothing short of devastating for Green, but a (highly likely) White loss to Sand, and a (toss up) Blue loss to Red would STILL have them into the second season…

Both Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s 3-4-1 Pink and Captain William Teglia’s 4-2-2 Teal had already booked playoff passage coming into the final week of play, and while Teal was 100% locked into the three seed, a win for Pink would mean a jump to the four seed, a position that would hold unless Gold prevailed over Black later in the slate. So…MUCH lower stakes for both teams, but a bump up the seeding ladder for Pink, and a little momentum heading into April play for either side is not nothing. What was ‘nothing’ was the scoring in the first period in this one, with Teal holding a 9-4 edge in shots, but neither team finding twine through ten. Chris Tran finally broke the scoring seal for Pink with a solo snipe at 2:07 in the second, but Kyle Snyder would answer for Teal less than a minute later (1:10 from Christopher Fiore) to push the ledger back to level going into the third. Captain Teglia was next to act, with his tenth (!) of the season giving Teal their first lead of the game at 8:05 (Snyder & Steph Palomo Schmidt), but first year forward, Jason Olver, would find a response for Pink at 4:08 (Captain Cerasuolo & Tran). The final shot totals from this game…28-14 in Teal’s favor. Unfortunately, as a wise man is typing right this very moment…’it’s not the shots you take, but the shots you make that count’. Jordan Pynn…the man, the legend…joining Pink’s ranks to replace injured superstar, Jon Salt…made his shot at 2:42 count…and unassisted game-winner for Pink in his first game back from his own injury journey. Chuck Bender (26/28) locked down the 3-2 win for Pink, helping to improve his team’s record to 4-4-1 and move them into (at least temporary possession of) the fourth playoff seed. As noted, outside of a slight sag in momentum, the loss did no damage at all to Teal, who hold firm at the three seed. In fact, Jon Cima (11/14) & Company were the only team in the league who knew their playoff position was set in stone coming in. The only remaining unknown for Teal…which team slot into the sixth position and stand as their opponent in the opening round of playoff play.

Captain Brennen Abel’s White came into the final week of regular season play at 1-5-2, but the five points salvaged from those first eight games of the season left them JUST BARELY alive in the playoff pursuit. White’s pin-thin path to the post season hinged on three results…a Green loss to Purple (check), an upset win over Sand, and a Blue loss to Red in the nightcap. ‘Upset’ is something of a relative term…there are definitely shades of upset. White beating Sand would top out as perhaps the biggest upset in SDFHL history. Still…Green’s loss meant that White would squeeze in with a win, as Green was White’s only regular season conquest, and if both teams were to finish at 2-5-2, a Blue loss to Red would leave all three teams with six points, with Blue eliminated on total wins, and Green eliminated on head to head. So…not the most sensible parlay available from your shady offshore gambling outfit, but…not impossible. ‘Impossible’ is a word that comes to mind when anyone suggests that you might ‘stop Alex Giummo from torpedoing your hopes and dreams’, and as the fates would have it, White scratched and clawed their way to the final week of play, only to find Thanos waiting to snuff them out. Giummo put Sand in front on the powerplay at 8:25 in the first (Trevor Vick), and while Zach Siemer would respond quickly for White at 7:52 (Jason Nothrup & Jason Lee) the rest of the period belonged to Sand’s supporting cast. Yes, Sand DOES have a supporting cast…though not a single player on the roster outside of Alex & Trevor, Inc. had a single goal on the season until this game! Matt DeBerry’s first of the season at 5:31 pushed Sand back in front (from Giummo and Trevor Vick, naturally), Wendy Enight’s first made it 3-1 at 4:15 (Trevor Vick), and Tim ‘I Know Trevor…I’m Actually His Dad…I Knew Him Before He Was Cool’ Vick’s first broke the game open at 3:25 (from Trevor Vick and Giummo, naturally). DeBerry wasn’t done, posting his second of the game at 9:20 in the second (Giummo), and a pair of Giummo solo strikes at 6:55 and 4:51 left little doubt that this game was well and truly over at 7-1 heading into the second break. White would put up a fight, with Rob Gaudio converting at 9:45 (Captain Abel), then returning the favor with the only helper on Abel’s goal to make it 7-3 at 9:09. Of course, it was just more Giummo from there, with his fourth of the game at 9:00 (Trevor Vick & Erin Plone), and a Giummo helping hand on Matt DeBerry’s THIRD OF THE GAME at 5:25! Congratulations on your first career hat trick, Matt! Super sub, Jenna Chercoe, posted one last response for White with seven ticks left, but Captain Nick Meglich (19/23) and Sand rode their trusty steed (and some actual helping hooves) to a 9-4 win, eliminating White and securing the top playoff seed in the process. Gabe Davenport (14/23) suffered the slings and arrows all season, and while his team did not find a way to April play, we are all happy to see him come away with a smile on his face, and resolve to continue his journey to become a force in nets in seasons to come.

With Sand having prevailed, Captain Kalen Hunter and Black joined Teal in the knowledge that there would be no possible change in their playoff position, regardless of how they might fare against Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold. A win would keep them undefeated and see them finish with the same point total as their rivals, but Sand would preserve the top spot based on the wins tiebreaker. A tie would (of course) also suffice in keeping their loss column clean, but even a loss could not dislodge them from the second seed. A win for Gold would move them into the four spot, supplanting Pink, who had only just arrive in that position, while a loss would keep them locked in the sixth position. So, the every other game pattern of genuine playoff implications continued, with this second ‘even game’ on the night proving to be quite ‘low stakes’ for both sides. A scoreless first saw Gold outshot 7-4, but certainly not outplayed, with both teams looking as though they were ramping up to the proper level of playoff intensity. Captain Hunter snapped home the first goal of the game from distance at 6:03 in the second, and Josh Tran followed with insurance for Black at 3:28 (Austin Szymanski & Kerri Sevenbergen). Mark DeGraffenreid accounted for the only goal for either side in the third, finishing a nifty backdoor feed from Tran at 6:52 to bring the final score to 3-0, Black over Gold. Sean Kelly (16/16) recorded his first shutout of the season, improving his league-leading totals to .947/1.17/1 SO, and reaffirming the prevailing thought that he may be the only man who can actually stop ‘Thanos’ this season. Mason Holcomb (17/20) filled in very admirably for John Kushneryk, who was not absent, but rather playing defense for the other team. Such is the twisted, incestuous world of SDFHL hockey. As noted, Black holds on to the second seed, and will turn to face Blue in the opening round this Sunday, while Gold hold at the six spot, hoping to avenge their 4-3 Week Four loss to Teal.

The final game of the Wing League 2026 season was dripping with playoff implications. Captain Josh Wirt’s Red were already a playoff lock, but a win would improve their season record to 4-4-1, and the head to head tiebreaker with Pink would give them the four seed. A loss for Red would relegate them to the eight seed, meaning a very daunting opening matchup with Sand, while a tie would move them into the sixth spot, based on the third tiebreak criteria, goal-differential…they would JUST move ahead of Gold, who fell to a -4 after their 3-0 loss to Black. Captain Owen Perks’ Blue…a MUCH more significant ‘drip’ of implication…a loss would leave them out of April play, while a tie or better would save them. A tie would leave Blue in the eight seed, meaning a rematch with Sand…the ONLY team Blue beat all season, and Sand’s only loss on the season, while a Blue win would push them to the seven spot. Bryan Ossa put Red in front first, slapping home a power play chance at 7:55 in the first (Eric Caligiuri & Captain Wirt), but Wasif Hussain responded for Blue at 5:44 (Hima Joshi), and Dan Jurgens put the underdogs on top for the first time at 2:57 (Captain Perks). With Craig Russell off after an awkward collision with Chris Malki found him staunching a (relentlessly) bloody nose in the penalty box, Captain Perks struck short-handed to pad Blue’s lead to 3-1 at 3:57 in the second (Jurgens). It was Shawna Hamon’s time to shine in the third, with her first goal of the game at 8:27 cutting the lead to one (Eli Schonbrun & Ossa), and her second of the game at 5:43 (Schonbrun & Caligiuri) pushing Red back to even ground, and pushing Blue back to the brink of elimination. The collective exhale from the Blue bench was reportedly heard as far away as Ramona, as Captain Perks wasted no time responding to Hamon’s heroics, snatching the lead back for his team at 5:24 (Jurgens & Hussain). Blue now knew that even another Red tally could not keep them from the playoffs…they would just need to hold on and not lose. Mason Holcomb (17/20) would ensure that Blue would not only ‘not lose’, but would win this most crucial of contests, 4-3 over Red. Don Tran (15/19) was saddled with the loss, dropping Red into the unenviable position of the first team on Sand’s playoff radar. The win for Blue sealed Green’s scrap heap fate, and locked Perks & Company in at the seven spot, set to take on the only undefeated team in the league (and the team that topped them 6-1 in Week Five), Black, as playoff action kicks off this weekend.

Battle At The Bottom

Four teams have yet to swim to the sandy shores of Playa De Los Playoffs as the final wave of regular season play swells to a crest this Sunday. Three of those four teams control their own destiny, and two of them (Captain Ryan Karns’ ‘Mermaid Man & Karnacle Boy’, and Captain Will Heinl’s ‘Gary’s Purple Pretty Patties’) will face each other in the Week Nine opener. It’s ‘win and in’ for those two, with the loser facing potential elimination, should Blue secure at least a point against Red in the nightcap, and (to a much lesser degree of likelihood) should White push past Sand and wield the proper combination of tie-breakers over their only other conquest on the season, Green. It’s every man, boy, snail, and pineapple for him/her/it-self as the Wing League 2026 regular season comes to a close this weekend…

The one team you do not want to see on your upcoming Sunday schedule is undoubtedly Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand. More accurately, you do not want to see Alex Giummo warming up at the other end. For all intents and purposes, Alex IS the team, now (at the conclusion of the game for which you are about to read a recap) having matched or outscored all but TWO other ENTIRE TEAMS in the league with TWENTY-SIX goals on the season. Of course, one of the teams he has failed to outscore this season is his own team, with Trevor Vick the ONLY other Sand player with any goals at all (TV carries a respectable seven). Captain Ryan Karns’ Green came into Week Eight at 2-3-2, still very much in danger of missing the playoffs, and needing a miracle against the relentless Sand storm to punch their pass and save themselves from a potential must win finale against Purple. The much-easier-said-than-done game plan against Sand is to ‘contain Giummo’, and Green did well executing this ‘plan’ in the first period. Giummo was held without a goal, but not without an assist, providing the only helper on Trevor Vick’s seventh of the season. The ‘plan’ faltered a bit late in the second, as Giummo notched his first of the game at 3:05 (Trevor Vick), then his second at 0:31 (Erin Plone) to expand Sand’s edge to 3-0 going into the second break. The third period saw a scoring bonanza for both sides, with four different scorers getting on the board for Green, and one four-goal scorer answering for Sand (one guess). Giummo capped his hat trick at 9:19 (Trevor Vick & Wendy Enright), Vance Morra finally responded for Green at 8:23 (Carl Vankoughnett & Jackson Tomaszewski), Giummo unassisted at 8:17, Giummo from Trevor Vick and Jeremy Copp at 7:06, Jenna Chercoe to stop the bleeding for Green at 2:42 (Weston Oakly & Mark Scelfo), then Bredan Jew to thicken the plot at 2:20 (Elyse Shattuck), Giummo’s SIXTH unassisted at 1:26, and one last response for Green from Vankoughnett at 1:05 (Tomaszewski). That’s a lot of orange plastic at (and past) both Matt Henderson (23/30) and Captain Meglich (22/26), but the ‘plan’ did not go to plan for yet another victim of Giummo’s ability to score at will. The 7-4 win, combined with Black’s tie later in the slate, pushed Sand back to the top of the pile heading into the final week of play. As fate would have it, Meglich & Company will face the team at the frigid south pole of the standings this Sunday in White, meaning they are a 99% lock to lock in the top playoff seed. Green still sit on the cusp, and could fall off the table completely, or stay in the mix for April play depending on how they fare in their finale against Purple. Karns’ & Kompany can still get into the playoffs with a loss, but they would then need Blue to lose, and White to earn anything but a win in their (massively uphill) tilt with Sand.

The second game on the Week Eight schedule featured another team embroiled in that ‘Battle At The Bottom’, with Captain Owen Perks’ Blue needing to pull a point or more from Captain William Teglia’s Teal to give themselves a real chance to push into the playoffs on the final Sunday of play. At 4-2-1, Teal were already seated at the second season table, and while they were certainly favorites in this match, it’s safe to say that desperation is often the great equalizer. Kyle Snyder struck early, with his eleventh of the season at 8:23 in the first (Christopher Fiore) giving Teal the first lead, but Chris Koziol played the role of ‘desperation incarnate’ for Blue, posting his second career goal to draw Blue level at 8:41 in the second (Captain Perks & Dorothy Kline). Captain Teglia was next to act, wresting the lead back for Teal at 6:22 in the second (Mostafa Azab), amplifying Blue’s anxiety with just one period to play. Dan Jurgens took three trips to the sin bin for Blue in this one, but the gritty veteran atoned for any forfeiture of comeback momentum by knotting the score at 2-2 with 4:11 to play. It was Koziol with the goal-ziol again less than a minute later at 3:28 (Justin Stege) to lift Blue to their first lead…ironically a power play conversion with Azab serving Teal’s only minor penalty of the game. With the clock winding down, Blue looked primed to carry the day and all but (if not definitely) punch their playoff ticket, but Captain Teglia conjured some faux desperation of his own, and struck for a second time to pull Teal back to even footing with 1:29 to go. Neither Mason Holcomb (21/24), nor Jon Cima (13/16) would concede from there, leaving Blue with one point and a mixed bag of emotions in the 3-3 tie. Koziol’s breakout, POTW game could not have come at a better time for Blue, who are in a considerably less dire position with six points (1-3-4) than they would be with five. Perks & Company have the added perk (see what I did there) of playing in the final game of the night this Sunday. They already know that a win over Red will put them in, but if there is a loser in the 4:00 Green v Purple match, they know that a tie will also seal the second season deal.

Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black entered Week Eight at the top of the standings…the only remaining undefeated team hoping to keep that loss column clean and hold serve in the final weeks of play to preserve the one seed. Captain Will Heinl’s Purple…2-4-1 coming in, knowing that every point in the standings could be vital to their hopes of escaping the scrap heap, especially given that a win would now vault them above their Week Nine opponent, Green, and offer greatly increased odds of freeing themselves from the cut line tangle in their finale. As pure irony would have it (and, as snarky teammate, John Kushneryk, loves to point out), Black had actually fared slightly better in Captain Hunter’s absence (2-0-0) than his presence (3-0-2) coming in. Purple certainly hoped that this ‘trend’ would continue, opening the door for at least a tie to draw them even with Green and set them up to stick the dismount this Sunday. Tom Darlington (of all players) opened the scoring with his third (!) of the season at 5:06 (Weston Nawrocki & Bao Nguyen), putting Purple on the front foot first, but Captain Hunter would retaliate unassisted less than a minute later at 4:29, then snatch the lead for Black at 0:53 (Kevin Hunter). While he did not make the official ‘stars of the game’ podium, Austin Szymanski was a player possessed in this game. His tireless hustle was finally rewarded at 7:56 in the second (Kerri Sevenbergen)…his first career SDFHL goal! CONGRATULATIONS, AUSTIN! Purple continued to press, and really took control of the game at that point. The first period shot totals favored Purple by a count of 9-5, but the second period gap of 15-7 finally bore fruit, in spite of all manner of breakdance heroics from Sean Kelly. Ty Pereira cut the lead to one at 2:40 in the second (Gary Peters), and Justin Hepler brought Purple back to level at 1:33 (Tom Darlington). The shot counts were close to even in the third (10-9, Purple), but neither Captain Heinl (18/21), nor Kelly (31/34) would allow for a winner to be declared. The 3-3 tie meant an important point for Purple, a fall to second place for Black, and another shameful blemish on Captain Kalen’s personal W-L-T record. Heinl & Company now know that it is ‘win and in’ against Green in Week Nine. The teams share the same record (2-4-2), and Purple has the advantage of having beaten White earlier in the season. Even if Purple should lose to Green, they would still make the playoffs with a Blue loss to Red in the nightcap. A tie would get them in with anything BUT a Blue win, and the goal differential tie breaker would seed them ahead of Green in the seventh slot.

The aforementioned snarky double agent, John Kushneryk, had backstopped Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold to a 2-3-2 record coming into Week Eight play, and he and his mates knew that a win over Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink would not only seal a playoff seed, but also leapfrog them into the upper half of the bracket. Pink’s roster…rife with scorers and hockey savvy swagger…but not on this day. With Chris Tran, Antony Cerasuolo, Shelby Shattuck, and Captain Darin himself all out of the lineup, it would most likely be up to the dynamic duo of Eric Willard and Jon Salt to carry the offense for Pink. When Salt went down in a heap less than thirty seconds into the first period…later to find he had a torn ACL, the odds of Pink holding off a hungry Gold steepened significantly. Captain Vacchio broke the scoring seal at 0:38 in the first (Steve Linke), Luke Wolmer doubled the damage at 6:01 in the second (Captain Vacchio), and Wolmer iced the 3-0 Gold win with his second of the game at 0:25 in the third (Hima Joshi). Kushneryk (10/10) was steady, but honestly hardly tested throughout, while Chuck Bender (22/25) did all he could to keep his severely short-handed side in the game from start to finish. As noted, the win pushed Gold to 3-3-2, now sitting in fourth place and locked into the playoff picture going into their finale against Kushneryk’s ‘other team’, Black. The loss prevents Pink from ascending to a higher playoff perch, but they remain safely in at 3-4-1 as they prepare for their regular season closer against Teal. We wish Jon all the best in his recovery from this freak injury…t’was unpleasant to witness, for sure. The Board has ratified Jordan Pynn, himself coming back from injury rehab, to replace Salt this Sunday and through Pink’s playoff run.

Yet another ‘big game’ dripping with playoff implications served as the Week Eight nightcap, as Captain Josh Wirt’s 2-4-1 Red hoped to punch out Captain Brennen Abel’s 1-4-2 White, and punch their playoff ticket in the process. Red’s 0-4-0 start had painted them into a tight corner at the midway point in the season, but a 2-0-1 run had them back in the thick of the playoff hunt. For White, the entire season had been slog and struggle, with their lone bright spot, a convincing 4-1 Week Five triumph over Green, having kept them alive, but just barely with two games to play. A win over Red would push White into a three way tie with Green and Purple, push Red into the basement, and greatly increase their chances of survival heading into what by all accounting projects to be an auto-loss to Sand in Week Nine. If you didn’t know, Joe Malki and his wife are expecting their first child sometime next month. Joe decided to honor his offspring with an early delivery, posting his fifth of the season at 8:37 in the first (Bryan Ossa & Shawna Hamon) to give Red the early lead. Eric Caligiuri followed with his second of the season at 7:51 (Eli Schonbrun & Joe Malki), and Joe made it 3-0 Red with his second of the game at 2:53. Rob Gaudio would provide the first response for White at 1:34 (Zach Siemer), but Papa-Soon-To-Be-Grandpapa Chris Malki restored Red’s three goal edge with 0:38 to play before the first break. Red pushed further ahead in the second, with Hamon’s first (!) goal of the season at 9:41 (Captain Wirt & Schonbrun) stretching the lead to four, and Chris Malki’s second of the game putting things well and truly out of reach for White at 4:05 (Schonbrun & Ossa). White still had fight in them, with Captain Abel cutting the lead back to four at 2:54 in the second (Gaudio & Tyler Winstead), then back to three with his second of the game at 6:46 in the third (Siemer & LaGrossa), but Don Tran (15/18) would allow White no closer, and Emily Bennington’s first of the season at 3:55 (Captain Wirt & Joe Malki) made absolutely certain that Red would hold on to capture the 7-3 win over White to secure playoff passage. Gabe Davenport (13/20) continues to battle hard in nets for White, but at 1-5-2, he and his mates are now in a MUST win situation. Unfortunately (and that word does not do justice to the lack of fortune here), White will have to prevail over Sand…the juggernaut atop the standings…a team that features a single player with seven goals more than White’s entire roster. As noted, Red’s place in the playoffs is already secured, but they will look to improve to as high as fourth should they play spoiler for Blue in the nightcap. We wish the very best to Joe, Chris, and the entire Malki family as he takes paternity leave from here out, with Riley Mann called in to fill his spot in Red’s lineup with the playoffs just around the corner…