Week Four opened with Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange taking on Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon, with both teams looking to add a second notch in the win column and prove the brighter highlighter as we move into the middle third of the season. Copp & Company came into Week Four play with just TWO goals to show for nine periods of play, having been shutout in their previous two outings to drop to 1-2-0. With even the woeful and winless sides at the bottom of the standings boasting at least triple that total, Orange knew they would need to find their scoring form, or soon find themselves in league with those beleaguered cellar dwellers. Justin Hepler was on the case, and his first of the season at 3:59 in the first (Aaron Cooney & Andrew Wong), then second at 0:48 (Gordon Schmidt & Chris Fiore) gave Orange a 2-0 lead, and matched the team’s entire scoring output (Fiore’s scoring output, to be precise) from the last three games, combined. Hepler would complete the trick at 7:04 in the second (Fiore), padding the lead to three, and (more importantly) instilling some confidence in his Orange mates that the scoring punch had finally arrived. Captain Vankoughnett would cut the lead back to two with his second of the season at 1:38 in the second, leaving the score at 3-1 in Orange’s favor heading into the second break. Matt Henderson (15/17), FINALLY benefitting from some offensive support, held strong against the push to equalize, but would ultimately concede a second Neon strike to Ryan Karns with 2:57 to play (Joe Malki & Gary Peters). That would be the final answer from Neon, who would suffer their first loss of the season to POTW Hepler and Orange, 3-2. Don Tran (21/24) absorbed the loss for Neon, who will look to bounce back this Sunday against Captain Ossa’s Brown. It’s something of a miracle that Orange find themselves at 2-2-0 heading into a showdown with Captain Siemer’s Grey…they will certainly need more heroics and Hepler, Fiore, and…heck, maybe even another player or two in the Orange ranks if they hope to repeat the winning feat in Week Five.
Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green entered Week Four play as the only team without a point in the standings. With only one of nine teams missing the playoffs this season, a rather meager point total could get the job done, but even Captain Rob Gaudio’s 0-3-1 Red know that a ticket to the second season is already in hand if Green can’t find a way to straighten out that not-so-nice round number. Captain William Teglia’s Purple warmed up at the other end, hoping to keep that fine-by-us round number in place for Green and extend their streak in the opposite direction to three in the process. Grant Goins put Purple on the path to doing just that at 8:29 in the first (Captain Teglia), then added his second of the game and fourth of the season at 9:51 in the second (Teglia) to double the lead and quadruple his career high for goals in a season (granted…no pun intended…this is just his second SDFHL season). When Trevor Vick made it 3-0 at 7:23 (Tim Vick & Chad Goins), and Owen Perks padded the lead to four at 0:14 (Chad Goins & Tim Vick), an already down and deflated Green side had to be feeling ready for this game (if not season) to be over. Sadie Hellstrom struck the lone strike in the third at 4:10 (Perks), and Will Heinl (21/21) would stand strong to preserve the 5-0 shutout win, keeping Purple paced with the six point lead pack, and one step closer to punching a playoff pass. The loss, of course…one step closer to elimination for Green. If ever there were ONE game that Captain Nguyen & Company NEED to win, it is this Sunday’s showdown with Red. A win would not only sow some much-needed confidence, but would actually push them above the cut line for the first time all season heading into their Week Six bye.
Valentine’s Day in June! Captain Rob Gaudio’s Red would love to find a way to a first win of the season, especially the week before a hot date with Green, while Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink would love nothing more than to keep the win column kisses coming, having racked up two straight smackers coming in. In a Thanos-free Summer 2026 season, Brennen Abel has assumed the throne at the top of the scoring charts. The Young Canuck™ stud added another goal to his total with an unassisted strike at 5:22 in the first to put Pink on top, but even-Younger-Yank stud, Darin Cerasuolo, would answer at 2:52 to knot the score at ones heading into the first break. Abel would not score in the second, but he would provide the lone assist on the lone goal of the period…Steve Goncalo at 8:54 to push Pink back in front. Alas, for a Red team desperate for that first taste of victory, Goncalo’s goal would stand as the lone goal of the final two periods of play…the game-winner in a 2-1 Pink win. Chuck Bender (21/22) continued his crushing crusade (both for his team, and in stand-in stints), while Nick ‘The Megician’™ Meglich (17/19) suffered another very tough loss at the other end. Now at 3-1-0, Pink sit comfortably in the upper reaches of the standings as part of the aforementioned six point pack, while Red fall to 0-3-1, just one point north of the cut line heading into the big ‘Week Five Battle To Survive’™ with out only team below that cut line, Green.
The only two remaining undefeated teams finally found each other in the Week Four nightcap, with Captain Eli Schonbrun’s 2-0-0 Blue facing off against Captain Kalen Hunter’s 2-0-0 Grey. I don’t mean to suggest that the man is lucky charm, but John Kushneryk (proud member of last season’s wire-to-wire-loss-free Cup champions, Black) is on the roster for both Blue and Grey this season. If you ignore his ‘other team’ from last season, Gold, this means that JK has not lost a game in a long time. Barring a tie in this one, he would collect one more yin win, but also (at long last) a yang loss. Chuck Bender (who else…the man is a machine this season) was suited up in Kushneryk’s stead for Captain Schonbrun & Company, while Kushneryk manned the blue line for Grey as play got under way. Kyle Snyder was first to act, snapping home his seventh of the season at 7:30 in the first (Brendan Jew), and a trio of unanswered Blue goals would follow. Captain Schonbrun made it 2-0 at 6:02 (Josh Tran & Jason Northrup), Tran padded the lead to three at 5:22 (Schonbrun & Shelby Shattuck), and Schonbrun’s second of the game capped a blowout first period for Blue at 2:18 (Northrup & Snyder). Captain Hunter finally found a response for Grey at 6:24 in the second (Steve Linke), but a second for Snyder with just 0:48 to play before the second break restored the four goal edge, and Snyder’s third at 6:25 in the third put this game well and truly out of reach. Fittingly/ironically/whatever-adverb-fits-best-here, it was Kushneryk who would take the last scoring action, slipping home his first goal of the season with 4:42 to play (Zach Siemer)…ultimately a meaningless strike for his Grey team, and a meaningless strike against his Blue team. The (very) convincing 6-2 win for Blue came with no major attendance asterisks, and really has them looking like the team to beat this season now at 3-0-0 on the tippy top of the table. If you’re scoring at home, Bender (20/22) is now 3-0-0 as a sub this season! Jon Cima (22/28) was the latest HomiSnyde™ victim, with Kyle’s hat trick heroics vaulting him into first place in the goal scoring race. The loss drops Grey to 2-1-0, good enough for middle of the pack, but with a game in hand on the two six point teams ahead of them in the standings, including their Week Five opponent, Orange.
