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, but rather 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 providing 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 in his first taste of playoff play. Green were now officially the first casualty of playoff play, while Orange march on to face color neighbors, Neon, in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday.
The remaining three recaps are coming soon…
