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 managed to cobble together the points and tiebreakers need 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 just ONE point apart. Abel evened the score for Pink, and widened that scoring lead back to two 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 season 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…
