When you scrape into the playoffs as the bottom seed, your chances are slim, your hopes are low, and it’s probably best to view the playoffs as a few bonus games…a chance to get some extra elements and exercise. Competitive nature being what it is, however, Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green clearly had designs on turning their first such ‘bonus game’ into a statement shocker, keeping the Cup favorites on the cusp of a colossal coup until the final minute of play in a 4-2 loss. Week Two would prove whether Green gained any meaningful momentum (even in the moral victory/morale sense) from their Week One exploits, or whether Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange would bring their (mostly) dormant, but potentially dominant offense to bear in a kill or be killed second showdown. The sublime poetry of the SDFHL schedule being what it is, it was the Week Nine meeting between these two teams that produced the 2-2 tie that pushed Green into the playoffs in the first place. A first playoff win for Green would leave Orange in the Summer 2026 history book as both Green’s playoff table booster seat and eventual springboard beyond the first round of knockouts. Orange wasted little time ‘correcting’ any concept of that narrative, scoring four unanswered goals in the first to clearly establish that glass slippers are easily shattered (and, honestly…how painful would a glass shoe be, anyway). Justin Hepler opened the floodgates with an unassisted strike at 7:05, then followed with a second at 5:40 (Aaron Cooney & Jim LaGrossa). The baton was then passed to ‘The Other Justin’™, with Mr. Stege’s unassisted first of the game at 1:45 making it 3-0, and his second at 0:04 (Cooney) pushing the lead to four. The bleeding slowed, but was not completely staunched for Green in the second, as Jim LaGrossa added a fifth for Orange at 1:53 (Hepler), removing any lingering hopes of a stirring comeback. Cooney’s first of the playoffs at 7:00 in the third pushed the lead to half a dozen, which is about when I arrived at the rink to find a surprisingly loose and joyous Green bench. It was really great to see, honestly…a team that had struggled and scraped through a tough season, finally finding a will and a way to push into the playoffs in the final minutes of regular season play, now resigned to their two-and-out fate, but not letting defeat define them…just enjoying the final period of playing together, and rooting hard for at least ONE goal…one last hurrah. Ty Pereira provided that curtain call at 1:11 (Alex Rockoff & Jordan Pynn), finally answering the Orange spate, and serving up one last sniff of joy for Green in an otherwise futile and forgettable 6-1 loss. Matt Henderson (18/19) lost his shutout, but secured the win with another solid effort, while Gabe Davenport (15/21) shouldered a second straight loss to put an end to his first taste of playoff play. Green officially became the first playoff casualty, while Orange march on to face color neighbors, Neon, in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday.
Stumbling and staggering into the second season as the seven seeds should not have inspired much more spirit and optimism in the ranks of Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookie Kong’ than Captain Nguyen’s Green coming into playoff play, but a rousing 3-2 last-minute takedown of second-seeded Pink in their opener had Brown thinking about a sneaky end-run to Cup glory. After all, Brown had now toppled number two Pink twice, and (attendance asterisk aside) boasted the only win by any team over top-seeded Purple. The rub…they also lost 6-3 in the regular season to both the four seeds, Blue, and the three seeds, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon. The latter was up first on the ladder to the Cup Final, and Ossa & Company hoped for a better effort and a better result in the second go. As noted time and again in these recaps, there is nothing quite as devastating to a team as surrendering a last-second goal, and perhaps nothing as uplifting for the team that scores one. Josh Wirt did that very deed for Brown, finishing a breakaway chance at 0:01 (Matt Rogers) to shock Neon and put Brown in front first. A quick early second period response from Ryan Karns (9:16, from Joe Malki and Wendy Enright) had the favorites back on even footing, but (ironically) it was Karns’ ‘footing’ that would deflect Captain Ossa’s point shot home at 1:24 to push Brown back in front heading into the second break. Both teams pressed throughout the third, trading chances and generally keeping the Kalshi users among us on edge…even Josh Wirt’s second of the game at 4:44 (Ossa & Mark Nagy) did not feel like a ‘deal-sealer’ for Brown. Mason Holcomb (23/24) was a deal sealer, however, stopping all but one shot he faced to continue his (particularly) strong recently streak of play and preserve the 3-1 upset win for Brown. Don Tran (15/18) absorbed the loss for Neon, who suddenly find themselves flipped to the Losers’ Bracket to battle it out with yucky lower seeds. They will hope to bounce back, remain alive in the hunt, and avenge their 3-2 Week Four loss to Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange this week, while upstart Brown look to shock the league and complete a 2-3-1 gauntlet to the Cup catbird seat if they can find a way past Purple.
So…dead horse and all, but surrendering a last-minute goal in the first or second period of a game…brutal. A last-minute goal that is also a game-winner for them and game-loser for you…devastating. A last-second goal…rare, but obviously an exponentially higher reading on the Gut Punch-O-Meter™. But…a last-second goal to lose a game and also eliminate you from playoff contention is quite another thing entirely…we are going to need a new O-Meter for that. So was written the fabulously unfortunate fate of Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink. After falling to Brown on a game-winning goal with 0:15 to play in their first playoff outing, the universe would up the heartbreak ante for ‘Kirby Enthusiasm’ with, yes, a LAST-SECOND SEASON ENDER against Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. Actually, as tough to swallow as a buzzer beating bye bye may be, Pink’s path in this one was even more pathetic. Kalen Hunter returned to scoring form at 5:39 in the first (Captain Siemer), but Pink quickly equalized (Steve Goncalo from Brennen Abel at 3:37), and ultimately wrested away the lead (Eric Willard from Abel at 1:36) to put the favorites in favored position heading into the second. A scoreless second (another ‘scoreless second’), meant an all-the-marbles third, and Kalen shot (and scored) first again to knot the score at 2-2 with an unassisted second of the game with 5:22 to play. Captain Amelang was next to act, picking an absolutely perfect time to pot her second goal in as many playoff games (after registering zero points otherwise, all season). The Captain’s strike at 4:27 (Scott Wieland & Abel) could hardly have felt decisive at the time, but as the clock wound towards 0:00, the second seeds must have felt a swelling swell of vindication from their shocking late loss the Sunday prior. Shocking late loss, you say (well…I type)? With just 1:02 on the clock…Grey’s John Kushneryk completely rips off Pink’s late loss scab with a stunner to tie it at three apiece (Kevin Hunter). Unreal…another reversal of fortune on the very verge of victory for Pink. At least they could rest easy knowing that the score was merely tied, and with the clock finding it’s way to 0:01, surely they would find a way to persevere and prevail in over ti…OMFG! Steve P Linke…posted up back door…Kalen Hunter circling and cycling with the ball, a gaggle of defenders drawn…pass…shot…GOAL! ONE SECOND left…Linke from Kalen Hunter and Sean Kelly to absolutely gobsmack Pink and smack them out of the playoff picture with a ghastly 4-3 stunner. Pink’s entire season…down in flames, really putting the F-U in FortUne with perhaps the heartbreakingest combined 1:17 of choking chaos over their very abbreviated two-and-out dead end run. Mason Holcomb (10/13) collected the win in Jon Cima’s stead, while Chuck Bender (12/16) must bear the brunt of the Pink nightmare in his brain for the coming month with the offseason now thrust upon him and his mates. The crazy coup pushes Grey onward in the Loser’s Bracket to face the four seeds, Blue, who smashed them in convincing 6-2 fashion back in Week Four. Captain Eli Schonbrun & Company would do well to temper confidence and expectation in the rematch, though…even if they should find themselves with a late lead this Sunday….
Captain William Teglia and his (heavy) Cup favorite Purple sought to serve further evidence that they were/are the ‘team of destiny’ that Pink most certainly were not, riding their 7-1-0 regular season record and an opening round win over Green into battle against Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue. Teglia & Company certainly had their way with Blue in the Week Five regular season meeting, prevailing 4-1 in spite of Trevor Vick’s absence, but the playoffs are (or, at least should be) a different animal, and this postseason was proving as well (or better) as others that upsets can and will happen. Brendan Jew wrote the first line in that flipped script with his third of the playoffs at 5:31 in the first (Jason Lee), but it was Trevor Vick making his post season presence felt where his regular season absence was not with the tying tally at 1:50 (Owen Perks). Perks would push Purple in front for the first time at 5:08, with The Vick Boys™ (Trevor and Tim, in that order) providing the set up on the go-ahead goal. By all accounts, including those at Kelly’s this week, and further supported by the close shot count (15-13 in Purple’s favor, at game’s end), this was a VERY good game…highly competitive, clean, and well-played by both sides from start to finish. There would be no late heroics, and no last-second let down in this one, though, as Will Heinl (12/13) and Purple would hold strong to best Blue 2-1 to advance to the Winners’ Bracket Final. The loss relegates Blue to the repêchage (a vocab word I only learned from, and only ever hear during the Summer Olympics), where John Kushneryk (13/15) will face his own substitute in nets as he patrols the blue line for his other team, Grey. A close game against a strong Blue side is one thing, but Purple certainly seem poised to stick the landing on their consistently dominant season-long death march. They will look to avenge their one and only loss (a short-staffed 3-2 fall to Brown in Week One) this Sunday, and should they take care of business and reserve the sitting position in the Final, it is hard to imagine any other team rising up to beat them in back-to-back battles come August 23rd.
