Summer SDFHL seasons are notoriously plagued by attendance issues, with vacations leaving vacancies in rosters, and shifting otherwise matched matchups into a skewed state. For Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey, the Week Seven vacancies were voluminous…Craig Russell, John Kushneryk, Kalen Hunter, Kevin Hunter, Kristin Sigler, and of course, the out-for-the-season Jon Cima. Only Leah Gonzales coming on as a substitute for Sigler spared Grey the fate of ZERO bodies on the bench. Meanwhile, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon were fully staffed, with Jenna Chercoe in for Wendy Enright, and Chris Tran in for long lost cousin, Don. Savvy as ever, Chris made clear to the officials before the opening faceoff that he intended to play the ball as much as possible, negating icings and otherwise avoiding stoppage to keep the short-benched Grey huffing and puffing. The result went to the Tran plan, with Grey’s lungs and legs stretched to the brink in perhaps one of the fastest/shortest games in league history (finishing ten minutes to the hour with ease). Captain Vankoughnett was first to act, depositing his fifth of the season to lift Neon to a 1-0 advantage at 4:38 in the first (Ryan Karns & Vinny Santora), and Parsa Mostafavi doubled the Grey deficit at 2:03 (Chris Malki). Selfless super sub, Chuck Bender (22/25) kept the skeleton crew six in the game throughout, with a lone second period strike from Joe Malki at 1:35 (Jenna Chercoe & Karns) the only Neon receipt from an 18-6 shot edge purchase through two. The lone third period goal actually belonged to Grey, with Sean Kelly snapping a beauty of a backhand over Tran’s shoulder at 4:23 (Mark Chercoe) to break the shutout and add a touch of tension to the final minutes of play. Neither side could manage to narrow or widen the two goal gap from there, though, meaning Neon would reap the full benefit of those vital Grey vacancies in a 3-1 win. Chris Tran (8/9) secured the win in Don Tran’s stead, boosting Neon into a tie with Grey in the standings at 3-2-1, and officially stamping playoff passage for Vankoughnett & Company. The loss is a fairly easy write-off for Siemer’s side, who will hope to have their ranks replenished when they take on a potent Purple after the holiday break.
Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green have been gripping the cut line guard rail from season’s start, and while still very much alive after a massive Week Six win over Red, Baoser & Company came into Week Seven play with no hope to survive without at least one more point in their final three games. The once mighty 4-0-0 Blue came in losers of their last two, with the extra twist of the knife for Green coming with a shocking upset loss to Red the week prior. This result alone kept Green languishing in last place, but also provided a glimmer of hope that they too could stage a Blue coup, take two, and leap frog back to playoff safety going into the final playoff push. The aforementioned specter of summer absence loomed over both sides in this one, but Green was particularly haunted with both Jordan Pynn and Nick Vacchio out of uniform. Blue would have to make do without Schindler, Northrup, and Jew, and would put their trust in Mason Holcomb with netminder John Kushneryk minding team Canada’s World Cup match, instead. Jenna Chercoe gave Green the lead at 6:49 (shoutout to a loyal front page reader), with Dorothy Kline and Ty Pereira collecting helpers. It took less than a minute for Kyle Snyder to respond…an unassisted goal at 5:53 that I did not see, but would imagine was an end-to-end blur through all five Green players. Jason Lee put Blue on top for the first time with his second of the season at 4:53 in the second (Shawna Hamon & Josh Tran), and when an apparent Chris Tran point shot equalizer was waived off later in the period, it started to feel like deja vu blues all over again for Green. Indeed, Green would not find a second, and in fact would muster ZERO shots (to Blue’s ten) over the final frame, which by old math and new meant a 2-1 win for Blue. Mason Holcomb (16/17) backstopped his surrogate team to a skid-stopping win, but Gabe Davenport (18/20) was the bigger story, recording one of the best outings of his career and collecting first star of the game honors in spite of the loss. Blue are now locked and loaded for playoff action, but cannot hope to rise any higher than their current position in second. The loss is not a death knell for Green, but with a seemingly resurgent Brown, and a well-overdue-for-offensive-outburst Orange standing between them and missing the playoffs, it will take Super Gabe™, Pynn, Vacchio, and all the king’s women and men to put this season back together again.
If you’ve been watching as much World Cup as I have, you have likely had more than your fill of ‘nil’, and are otherwise expecting to see no more than two or three goals in any given game. Week Seven was mostly an eerie reflection of the massive global event, with finals of 3-1 and 2-1 in the first two games, and (spoiler alert) 2-0 in the night cap, but there are exceptions to most rules and trends, and the 7:00 slot was an offensive orgy that very nearly filled every slot on the scoring section of the sheet. Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’ began the season on what in hindsight is a dizzying high, topping the otherwise undefeated Purple 3-2 (never mind that the now juggernaut was without the services of Owen Perks and The Vick Boys™), but had since dropped three straight, and mustered a mere tie against another toothless tiger (Orange…without Hepler and Cooney). Captain Rob Gaudio’s Red had also managed just three points coming in, but a still minty fresh 4-3 stunner over Blue the Sunday prior had them hoping for greener pastures clear of rival Green and paced away from a playoff pitfall. So…a big game for both sides, with the winner pushing closer to mid-pack safety, and the loser lingering a week longer on the ledge. Brown’s go-to guy, Josh Wirt, entered with nine points (but just one goal) on the season in five games, and with ‘The Megician™’ patrolling the pipes for Red, it seemed rather unlikely that this game would see the scoring levee break for the perennial scoring chart stud. <INSERT SOUND OF LEVEE BREAKING> Wirt from DeGraffenreid and Captain Ossa at 9:38, Wirt from DeGraffenreid and Nagy at 8:05, Leah Gonzales from Wirt at 5:32, then finally an unassisted response from Red’s Dan Jurgens at 2:35…only to be followed by Wirt unassisted at 2:27, and Wirt from Ossa and Gonzales at 2:06. FOUR goals and an assist for Wirt in a 7:32 span! Chris Koziol made it 6-1 Brown at 9:08 in the second (DeGraffenreid), and heads were shaking on both sides in disbelief at the absolute onslaught. Captain Gaudio stopped the bleeding for Red at 7:46 in the second (Jurgens & Darin Cerasuolo), but Matt Rogers finished a sneak attack run from the point with a nifty backhand to restore the five goal lead for Brown heading into the second break. With Jurgens going down in the second with what appeared to be a rather serious injury, Red’s already steep path to points was now iced over and greased up. Undaunted, Cerasuolo took the first step in Red’s comeback climb, notching his fifth of the season at 6:40, and Captain Gaudio followed with his second of the game at 5:41 to cut the lead to three (Wasif Hussain & Cerasuolo). Wirt finished his FIFTH of the game to stabilize the situation for Brown at 3:48 (DeGraffenreid & Wirth), rendering Gaudio’s hat trick capper at 1:00 little more than a point of personal pride and window dressing in a chaotic 8-5 loss. It’s safe to say that neither Mason Holcomb (15/20), nor Nick Meglich (17/25) will be adding this game to their pantheon of pleasant SDFHL memories, but honestly it just seemed like one of those games where any shot that could find a way in did. The win is big for Brown, who improve to 2-3-1 with a chance to lock in a playoff spot after the holiday break against Green. The loss leaves Red very vulnerable, particularly with their bye week up next, but if Brown hold even half the scoring swagger against Green that they did on this night, Red can rest relatively assured of maintaining their precarious playoff perch whilst watching House Of The Dragon.
Early summer days mean late summer sunsets, and while the night stars were slowly pulsing into view above, some of the biggest SDFHL Summer League stars were set to shine on the court below (Poet Laureate nominations, please and thank you). Pink’s Brennen Abel entered Week Seven play at that top of the scoring table with sixteen points (6 and 10), with Purple Captain William ‘Big Willy T™’ Teglia trailing by just one point with 7 and 8 on the season. With both team’s sitting comfortably in the upper reaches of the standings, the final game of the night held few stakes beyond such personal production measuring sticks, and an opportunity for Purple to clinch the top playoff spot prior to their final regular season game on July 12th. The stars above did shine, and there was even a very-nearly-full moon to add extra glow to the firmament, but…neither super nova below would offer so much as a twinkle as the Sunday slate turned back to fútbol form in a low-scoring goalie duel. Tim Vick potted his first of the season at 7:11 in the first (Trevor Vick), and that would be the only goal for either side through the remainder of the first and a scoreless second. Vick’s goal very nearly stayed lonely the rest of the way, with both teams pressing hard as time wound down in the third. Dwarf star, Grant ‘G-Dub™’ Goins, finally added a second with just 1:03 to play (Sadie Hellstrom), as Will Heinl (20/20) collected his fifth win and THIRD shutout of the season in Purple’s 2-0 triumph. I’ll be the first to admit that I was unaware of Heinl’s ascent to the Summer League goalie throne…his .950/1.00/3 SO line has him on top of the pile by a country mile…perhaps the REAL star that Purple are wishing upon as the playoffs near. Chuck Bender (27/29) was outstanding in his own right, after standing out for two hours between his sub stint for Grey and his second game of the night for his actual team. Once again, if you have not given Mr. Bender thanks for all of his selfless subbing this season (really every season, but particularly this one), you should. As mentioned, the win puts Purple at twelve points, and while they can be still be caught in the points column by Blue, they cannot be unseated at the top with the head-to-head tie breaker in hand. The loss is a mere minor setback for Pink, who had already booked a playoff spot based on earlier losses from Green and Red.
