DOUBLE UP

The opening game on the Week Seven slate was billed as a banger, with Captain Carl Vankoughnett's Neon juggernaut (5-0-0) squaring off against Captain Mason Holcomb's potent Pink (3-1-1). Beyond the possibility (even the slimmest of possibilities) that this match might produce Neon's first loss, or at least their first non-win, the real draw was the battle of two of the most feared players in the recent (if not entire) history of the league...Neon's Alex Giummo, and Pink's Kyle Snyder. Alas, as with most nice things in this world, we cannot have them, and like far too many nice SDFHL things, the fun was ruined (once again) by 'other' leagues and tournaments. Neon would run without Scott Wieland and Steve Pugliese, while Pink would be without Jason Lee, Sean Kelly, and...yes...Kyle Snyder. So...great times...instead of a much-anticipated, high-octane heavyweight bout...another sad, slanted smash and grab win for Neon...YAY! First period goals from Giummo at 9:16 (Captain Vankoughnett & Gordon Schmidt), Vankoughnett unassisted at 5:42, and Matt Drake at 5:23 (Giummo & Stephanie Palomo Schmidt) had Neon off and boat racing, and Giummo's second of the game at 8:58 in the second (Palomo Schmidt & Jim LaGrossa) pushed the Neon lead to four. John Kushneryk continued his hot hand for Pink with his fourth of the season at 5:18 in the second (Craig Russell & Arnold Gonzales), but that would be all the resistance mustered...unsurprising in all ways, especially considering the final shot count of 31-6 in Neon's favor. Giummo (8:49 from Vankoughnett & LaGrossa) and LaGrossa (1:14 from Vankoughtnett) rounded out the scoring in Neon's 6-1 win, with the final horn stirring Nick Meglich (5/6) from his late afternoon cat nap. Captain Holcomb (25/31) did his very best, but honestly this game was over before it began...like every other Neon game this season...so fun!

There's bad luck, then there's the unique lack of luck 'enjoyed' by Captain Emily Bennington's Green this season. Green came into Week Seven play as one of only two winless teams, but the asterisk...their last two games were postponed due to rain. Their Week Four meeting with Charcoal sat at 2-2 when the rains hit in earnest in the third, and their Week Five faceoff with Maroon was scoreless when scrubbed early in the second. So, while the two games in hand may prove a saving grace for Green, those two games could also break the other way and spell their doom. Bennington & Company could REALLY use a strong showing (and at least a point) against Captain Shawna Hamon's 1-3-1 White. A scoreless first saw the two sides exchange nearly identical shot totals (7-6, in White's favor), and while White turned up the heat in the second (12-3 shot edge), it was Green who made the first shot count...Vance Morra's second of the season at 8:40 (Dan Jurgens & Weston Nawrocki). Ty Pereira produced a prompt reply for White at 6:18 (Eddie Zuniga & Luke Wolmer), locking the teams at 1-1 through two. Luke Wolmer made his watching wife and baby proud once again with the game-winning strike with 7:44 to play (Captain Hamon), and a gritty, grindy push from Green (at least the few minutes I saw of it...intense!) would fail to change the hands of fate...2-1 White over Green. Don Tran (25/27) ate yet another hard-luck loss for Green, while John Kushneryk (10/11) improved his and his team's overall record to 2-3-1, putting the 'W' in 'narrow', and pushing White to the middle of the playoff pack with three games left in their regular season run. Green will take another swing at securing their first win this Sunday against Captain Jeremy Copp's Grey, then 'enjoy' back-to-back weeks with back-to-back games (well, one game plus a period or two) to close out their season. It will be interesting to see how those 'extra games' come to bear on the playoff picture...weird, wild stuff!

It was yet another installment of 'other leagues and tournaments ruining SDFHL Sundays' in the creamy middle game of the Week Seven schedule, with Captain Jeremy Copp's Grey finding themselves without their top two picks in Jordan Pynn and Rob Gaudio, and Charcoal making due without Mostafa Azab, and calling on Don Tran to fill in for long lost cousin, Chris, in nets. This game went down in much the same fashion as Neon v Pink...dominant beatdown from start to finish...awesome times! The scorekeeper neglected to keep a shot count (at all), so the shots had to be guesstimated after the fact with input from the goalies. They settled on totals of 18-5 in Charcoal's favor, which I suppose means that I personally accounted for all of Grey's shots in this one (I count at least four or five from memory, but...I digress...the real point is that this game was lopsided AF). Eric Willard opened the scoring for Charcoal at 7:20 in the first (Owen Perks), and while one of Grey's 'five' shots did find twine next (Mark DeGraffenreid from Mark Daquipa at 3:26), that would prove to be nothing more than a death rattle. Captain Ossa's first of the season at 2:20 (Perks & Erin Plone) put the darker shade of grey back on top through one. Eric Willard's second of the game (unassisted at 2:02) was the only tally in the second, but the really damage came with a trio of Charcoal conversions in the third...Gary Peters from Don Tran (!) at 7:44, Willard's hat trick icing at 3:15 (Perks & Peters), and Peters' second of the game with 2:11 to play to set the final score to 6-1, Charcoal over Grey. Don Tran (4/5) filled in admirably for Chris Tran, although...based on the 'guesstimated' shot counts, a bag of flour would have achieved the same result (minus that big assist, of course). Jon Cima (12/18) and Grey fall to 2-3-1 with the loss...now nestled in a pack of five-pointers just north of the cut line. Copp & Company (along with White and Blue) remain playoff safe while Green and Maroon remain winless, but of course one of the aforementioned make-up games is Green v Maroon, so...

The 'other' hockey action heroes were back from wine country in time to grace our league with their presence as the late games got underway, and the middleweight matchup between Captain Wasif Hussain's 2-3-0 Brown and Captain Dorothy Kline's 3-1-1 Teal had the makings of the second legitimately competitive contest on the Week Seven slate. Teal were looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, or rather LOSS (big loss...7-1 to powerhouse Pink), while Brown were relieved to have their 'auto loss' checked off with a respectable 5-3 dismissal the Sunday prior. A scoreless first ticked past, but Brown stormed out of the gate in the second, with Eli Schonbrun's first (!) of the season at 9:01 staking his side to an early lead, Brennen Abel's tenth (!) of the season doubling the damage just forty-two seconds later (Sadie Hellstrom), then Abel's eleventh making it 3-0 Brown at 3:21 (Captain Hussain). Jackson Tomaszewski cut the lead to two with his second of the season at 1:44 in the second, and with the shot totals nearly deadlocked (14-13, in Brown's favor) all signs pointed to a fight to the finish in the third. Hellstrom's first (!) of the season with 3:49 left to play (Abel & Jason Northrup) sapped most of Teal's remaining fight, and after one last Teal gasp (Adam Schindler from Nick Vacchio and Tomaszewski at 1:19), Sadie's second of the game/season at 0:40 (Schonbrun) sunk Teal for good, 5-2. Will Heinl (18/20) was a big factor in the win, which evens Brown's record on the season at 3-3-0, while Chuck Bender (18/23) and Teal slip to 3-2-1 after absorbing a second straight loss. Both teams remain comfortably in the playoff picture entering the final third of the season, but both face a tough challenge next, with Brown taking on Pink in the 'Giggity Bowl'™, and Teal taking a shot at Neon in another auto loss effort this Sunday.

It's safe to say that the desperation was building for Captain Grant Goins' 'Maroonraker', as his 0-3-1 side turned to face our Week Seven cover team, Captain Ryan Karns' Blue. While Maroon do hold a potentially vital game in hand, and while that make-up game happens to come against cellar mates, Green, Goins & Associates will need to start pulling points from other sources in order to shape that bit of 'Week Ten' unfinished business as anything more than a battle to not finish dead last. Captain Karns' group had a rough start to the season, having faced Neon in their opener, and Pink in their third game, but (chronic absences and all) still managed to enter Week Seven at 1-3-1, hungry for a second win and some playoff padding heading into the final third of the season. With (apparently) NEITHER SIDE MISSING A SINGLE PLAYER (!), the nightcap had at least the potential for the parity that this league was once known for (I remember those days...faintly). My fellow Bellarmine Bell, Brendan Jew, was first to act, notching his third of the season to put Blue in front at 6:01 (Josh Wirt & Jenna Chercoe), and Captain Karns himself released some of his early season demons with his first of the season at 1:31 (Jason Olver) to give his team a 2-0 lead through ten minutes of play. Jon Zygelman cut the lead back to one with his third of the season at 3:26 in the second (Leah Gonzales & Justin Ker), but it was number two for Brendan Jew at 0:51 (Wirt & Jenna Chercoe) to restore the two goal edge heading into the final break. Joe Malki once again snipped the lead to one at 8:25 in the third (Zygelman & Gonzales), and when Ker drew Maroon level at 7:18 (Ralph Barbato), the promise of parity came to full fruition, and the stage was set for a fight to the finish down the final stretch. In case you missed the headline blurb, the box score, or the POTW widget, it was Jenna Chercoe's turn to wear the cape this week. Chercoe's powerplay strike at 3:19 (Karns & Wirt) was the last key to Blue's 5-3 victory, and the last nail in Maroon's Week Seven coffin. Well, technically the second to last nail in said coffin, but no one really cares about empty net goals (no offense, Mr. Wirt...0:48 from Mark Nagy). So...a great game, a great result for Matt Henderson (22/25) and Blue, but another heartbreaker for Gabe Davenport (21/25) and Maroon. The former now find themselves as a part of the aforementioned five-pointer club...hovering safely (for now) above the cut line, while Goins' Group are now officially entering 'must win' territory as they prepare for battle with a tough Charcoal crew this Sunday.