Week Seven boxes are up…recaps to come.

Sorry, folks…no recaps this week.

The midpoint of the regular season is about the time the playoff picture really begins to take shape. By the end of the Week Five slate of games, it is entirely possible that one or more teams will have already secured a playoff spot, while others will see themselves fated to a trench battle for survival over the remaining month of play. Neither Captain William Teglia’s 3-1-0 Teal, nor Captain Will Heinl’s 1-2-1 Purple were in either of those camps (yet) coming in, but the winner of this game would enjoy a considerable amount of additional security against falling into said ‘trench’ as March play marches on. Captain Teglia put his team on the front foot with his fifth of the season at 6:00 (Christopher Fiore), then added a late period solo strike to push Teal’s lead to 2-0. Justin Hepler scored the lone goal in the second to cut Teal’s lead to one (Gary Peters & Jon Zygelman), and a super sub sneak attack from Jenna Chercoe (Zygelman & Tom Darlington) at 7:36 in the third drew the teams level with a pair of twos. Teal had dominated the shot count over the first two periods (21-8), and while Purple mustered a slim shooting edge in the third (8-7), it was Kyle Snyder who would account for the truly important statistic…goals. Snyder snapped home his seventh of the season with 3:53 to play (Captain Teglia & Fiore), then added empty net insurance at 0:35 (Fiore) to seal the 4-2 win for Teal. Jon Cima (14/16) improved his personal record on the season to 3-0-0 with another strong outing, while Captain Heinl (24/27) and Purple were saddled with a third loss in five tries. The win bumps Teal into the aforementioned playoff-primed echelon of the table at 4-1-0. While I don’t know that they are ‘mathematically in’ at this point, it would take some serious ‘new math’ and misfortune to change their trajectory. At 1-3-1, Purple now sit just one point above the cut line…obviously very much in jeopardy of missing the second season if they do not make a run for safety ASAP. Lo and behold…a matchup with Captain Wirt’s sub-cut-line Red this Sunday…HUGE game for both teams!

Captain Brennen Abel’s White has been a ‘trench’ team all season, and while their 2-1 Week Three loss to Gold and 2-2 Week Four tie with Blue were signs of a trend up in the defense and goaltending departments, the end result was still one lonely point out of a possible four. At 0-3-1, their Week Five showdown with Captain Ryan Karns’ 2-2-0 Green represented an opportunity to finally move above the cut line and begin a second half push to playoff pastures. With the collective hope that Gabe Davenport had another gem game in his goalie bag, and with key Green cogs Carl Vankoughnett, Brendan Jew, and Weston Oakley elsewhere, the focus fell back on an a White offense that would need to need to find scoring form to carry the day. Captain Abel led by example with his sixth of the season at 6:29 in the first (Rob Gaudio), and Abel would return the helping hand on Gaudio’s third with just 0:23 to play before the first break (late period goals are such daggers). It was more of the same in the second, with Captain Abel pushing White’s lead to three at 4:42 (Leah Gonzales & Gaudio), then Gaudio cashing in his second of the game to make it 4-0 less than a minute later (Abel & Mark Nagy). Green’s only retaliation came off the stick of very unusual suspect, Lena Amelang. Amelang finally solved Davenport at 2:35 (Captain Karns)…her first of the season, and just her sixth goal in sixty-four career games…nice work, Lena! All goals count the same on the scoresheet, however, and (as noted) that was the only response Karns’ & Kompany would muster as Gabe Davenport (16/17) and the law offices of Abel & Gaudio finally delivered a win for White, 4-1 over Green. Don Tran (14/18) swallowed the bitter L pill in Matt Henderson’s stead, outdone by a determined opponent and a skeleton crew supporting cast. All goals count the same on the scoresheet, and technically all wins count the same in the standings, but this win for White is HUGE. Now at 1-3-1, White find themselves above the cut line for the first time, with renewed hopes of a playoff push heading into the second half. The loss feels equally HUGE (and heavy) for Green, who fall to 2-3-0, just one point ahead of White and two points north of the cut line with 4-0-1 Black up next, and 4-0-1 Sand still lurking in their late season schedule.

The built up pressure and frustration of an 0-4-0 start was compounded all the more by White’s breakthrough coup as Captain Wirt’s Red strode onto the surface for a belated Valentine’s Day showdown with Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink. If you’re not a regular recap reader (who is, really) you may well have missed all of my borderline cheerleading for this Red team…I still believe them to be a very good team trapped in a dead and rotting team’s corpse. I noted last week that there would be/could be ‘no more excuses’ for Red if they did not win in Week Five. They not only desperately needed points in the standings, but also just needed to prove that they could come out on top (one game at a time), in spite of their position on the very bottom. Pink was definitely not the team you want to face in a ‘must win’ or ‘really, really need to win’ situation, with the league’s top offense and a 3-1-0 record tainted only by the auto-L that is a date with Sand. Still…’no excuses’…it was now, or most likely never for Wirt & Company. Joe Malki liked the sound of ‘now’, putting Red in front at 9:04 in the first (Captain Wirt), but Captain Cerasuolo would respond for Pink at 7:34 (Eric Willard) to bring the teams back to square one heading into period two. Bryan Ossa was next to act, putting Red back in front at 8:30 in the second (Eli Schonbrun) before Steve Goncalo pumped Red’s lead to two at 7:22 (Emily Bennington & Captain Wirt). Eric Willard slashed that lead back to one at 5:19 (Chris Tran), but Joe Malki’s second of the game at 2:57 (Schonbrun) had Red back in firm control heading into the final third. That third was a veritable scoring bonanza, with Captain Cerasuolo’s second of the game at 8:37 (Tran & Jon Salt) sending familiar shivers down Reds’ backs, Captain Wirt himself calming those nerves with his second (!) of the season at 7:31, Chris Malki plumping Red’s lead to 6-3 at 6:48 (Goncalo & Schonbrun), Captain Cerasuolo completing his hat trick on the power play at 4:26 (Willard) to keep Pink in striking distance, and Chris Malki slamming the door shut with his second of the period to FINALLY deliver Red to the winners’ circle, 7-4 over Pink. Don Tran (15/19) notched his first win of the season (for his actual team, anyway), and Red actually outshot their offensively gifted foes 26-19, in spite of being tagged with three penalties to Pink’s one. Chuck Bender (19/26) shouldered the loss for Pink, who remain safely in the high-middle pack at 3-2-0. The work has only just begun for Captain Wirt & Company, still sitting below the cut line with just two points, but with a wobbly Purple up next this Sunday, and with both White and Blue on tap to close their season, my fanboy-esque support of this team may well prove warranted come April…

With the ‘Battle Of Black Sand’™ behind us, and with both Black and Sand coming away undefeated, two of the more intriguing questions remaining in the Wing 2026 season became ‘which undefeated team will lose first’, and ‘which team will finally hand either of these teams a loss’. The first up in Week Five to try to answer these questions in their favor…Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold. Gold’s 2-2-0 record coming in was built on a W-L-W-L pattern, with the last three entries in that pattern starting a new pattern of games decided by one goal. Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand…utterly dominant in two of their three wins, mostly dominant in the third (Pink produced a late two-goal push that came up short), and, of course, the draw with their attic mates and new rivals, Black. It’s no secret that the key to having ANY chance at all against Sand is to stop Alex ‘Thanos’ Giummo. There might be no bigger chasm between ‘said’ and ‘done’ than when uttering that strategy to your mates in the pregame huddle, but…outside of forfeiting, you have no choice but to try. The (presumed) ‘plan’ worked wonders in the first for Gold, holding Giummo off the board through the first ten minutes of play, but Trevor Vick took the scoring baton for Sand at 5:53 (Tim Vick & Erin Plone), sending Gold to the break with mixed emotions. Giummo finally broke through at 5:19 in the second (Jeremy Copp), but Captain Vacchio found a late period goal at 0:27 (Luke Wolmer & Vinny Santora) to cut the lead back to one and renew Gold’s hope of a stunning midseason coup. The good news for Gold…nothing further from Giummo for the first 7:13 of the third. The bad news…two goals from there out…his second of the game on the powerplay at 2:47 (Parsa Mostafavi), and a third at 1:42 to complete the hat trick and push Gold into the growing pile of broken teams with a 4-1 loss. Both Captain Meglich (19/20) and John Kushneryk (24/28) were sharp, but that late pair of punches from Giummo made a close game look like a laugher…such is the merciless magic of Thanos. The win has Sand keeping pace at the top of the standings, while the loss moves Gold to a somewhat precarious 2-3-0 going into a Week Six tilt with a desperate Blue side.

That ‘other undefeated team’, Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black, looked to keep their lossless streak intact in the final installment of the ‘Young Canuck Cup’ against Captain Owen Perks’ Blue. If you missed this bit, I basically arbitrarily decided to work a little ‘mini tournament’ into this season, with Captain Kalen (Black), Captain Owen (Blue), and Captain Brennen (White) competing for the highly coveted ‘Young Canuck Cup’. Never mind that there is no such trophy (at least, not yet)…the pride of these three young-ens (see what I did there…all of their names end in EN…do you…do you see) is what this is really about. Black defeated White, and Blue and White tied, so a win or tie would seal this silly pseudo prize for Black, while a win would steal it away for Blue. High stakes…let me tell you! There is also the matter of Blue really needing an upset win to push themselves back into the playoff picture, but…actual importance, schmactual schmimportance. Whatever the inspiration, Captain Hunter was feeling it early, putting Black on the board at 9:12 in the first (Kerri Sevenbergen). Mark DeGraffenreid flicked home a loose ball in the crease to make it 2-0 Black at 6:12 (Pat Gladstone & Josh Tran), and the first period momentum for Black quickly became a nightmare for Blue in the second. DeGraffenreid’s second of the game at 7:47, a slapper from the circle after Kevin Hunter’s shot from the other side of the rink rang off the crossbar, was followed quickly by Captain Hunter’s second of the game at 7:06 (John Kushneryk), then a pair of Kushneryk tallies at 3:25 (Josh Tran & Mark DeGraffenreid), and 0:14 (Gladstone & Austin Szymanski). When the smoke cleared, Black moved into the second break with a 6-0 lead, and with Kelly in nets, this game was effectively already over. Undaunted (and with nothing left to lose), Blue stormed out of the gate in the third, with Captain Perks finally producing a pushback for his team at 9:46 (Dan Jurgens & Chris Koziol). The helper was Koziol’s first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, CHRIS! Perks & Company kept the gas pedal floored for another two or three minutes, but the game ultimately settled back into a scoreless rhythm, and Kelly (23/24) and his mates would cruise to a 6-1 win. Mason Holcomb (13/19) shouldered the loss for Blue, who, after the Red and White heroics earlier in the afternoon, remain the only team in the league without a win going into the final stretch. While they may be down, and may have lost the ‘ultimate prize’ in the Young Canuck Cup, there is still very much a path to safety for Blue. That path starts with a very important match with Captain Vacchio’s Gold this Sunday, where that elusive first win could also be their card key to exit the cellar…

Our Week Four cover team was up first, with Captain Josh Wirt’s hard luck Red still seeking their first win…indeed, their first point of the Wing 2026 season. I have continued to prop Red up in spite of their winless start, primarily because I think they are built to win, but were perhaps scheduled for a rough February ride. Their opening loss to Gold came (mainly) courtesy of a stellar effort from netminder John Kushneryk, and their subsequent two outings came against the only two remaining undefeated teams in Black and Sand. A Week Four match with Captain Ryan Karns’ 1-2-0 Green seemed a likely offramp from the Winless Expressway, but the absence of Steve Goncalo and Captain Wirt himself would certainly complicate that simple plan. Red had struggled to score in those first three losses, and Wirt and Goncalo had accounted for half of the four total goals scored (Eric Caligiuri and Eli Schonbrun each with one, as well). The bright side…Papa (soon to be Grandpapa) Chris Malki was back in the lineup after missing the showdown with Sand. The reunited Malkis weren’t a factor early, with Jackson Tomaszewski finding his fourth of the season at 8:54 in the first (Weston Oakley & Brendan Jew), then Oakley building the lead at 6:18 in the second (Carl Vankoughnett & Lena Amelang), and a solo, short-handed Vankoughnett strike at 1:29 in the second pushing Green’s edge to three. The father and son would finally fight back for Red at that point, with a Papa Chris converting on the powerplay at 1:04 in the second (Joe Malki) to cut the lead back to two going into the first break. Tomaszewski slowed Red’s comeback roll with his second of the game at 5:54 in the third (Oakley & Amelang), but the Red rally continued with Joe’s first (!) of the season at 3:42 (Schonbrun), and Chris’ second of the game/season at 0:54 (Joe Malki & Bryan Ossa). So…now a 4-3 game, with Green clinging to a one goal lead in the final minute of play, and…Tomaszewski would finish what he started, capping his hat trick with an empty-netter at 0:40 to seal the winning deal for Green, 5-3. Matt Henderson (19/22) deserved a nice bounce back win after getting bounced around by Pink in Week Three, and his efforts helped Green level their season ledger at 2-2-0. It was just another tough loss for Don Tran (20/24) and Red, who at 0-4-0 have just five games left to lift themselves above the cut line and into playoff contention. There are no caveats or excuses from this point forward, and a loss to a potent Pink this Sunday might finally have me rethinking my assessment of this team as a wolf in winless wool.

Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold and Captain William Teglia’s Teal were up next in a ‘crossroads’ match of 2-1-0 twinsies. The struggles of Red, White, and Blue (ironic, after the Winter Olympic ice hockey showing for those colors) have sapped some of the sense of urgency from these middle of the pack melees, but you can never be too far above the cut line, and 3-1-0 looks and feels a lot better than 2-2-0. Rob LaVigne pushed Teal out in front with his first of the season at 4:57 in the first (Mostafa Azab), but Gold had their intrepid last line of defense (John Kushneryk) to thank once again for keeping things close through ten minutes of play, with Teal holding a 10-5 advantage in shots. If you were playing in/present for this game, you know that there were a lot of ‘firsts’, which we (sort of spontaneously, and very sportingly) decided to celebrate (one and all). The first such first was Bryan Fisher’s first career SDFHL goal at 7:29 in the second to draw Gold level (Andrew Wong), then Andrew MacFarlane’s first career SDFHL point…the second assist on Captain Vacchio’s go-ahead goal for Gold at 6:58 in the second (Steve Linke with the primary). CONGRATULATIONS, BRYAN AND ANDREW! Alas for Gold, their lead lasted less than a minute, as Kyle Snyder would equalize unassisted at 6:04, then put Teal back on top with a solo, short-handed strike at 3:28. Linke’s lamplighter at 1:04 in the second (Steve Pugliese) meant that this intriguing middleweight match would go the full three rounds, with the teams headed to the second break in 3-3 lockstep. While the score was even through two, the shots were 17-9 in Teal’s favor, and it felt as though this one would either be another Kushneryk heist job (see Week One versus Red) or a ‘math is math’ Teal triumph. The shot total was an insanely skimpy FOUR (for both sides combined!) in the final frame, but it was Snyder who would make one of Teal’s three shots count, completing his hat trick at 7:04 (LaVigne & Azab) to lift Teal to a 4-3 win. Kushneryk (16/20) was heroic, but human, and Jon Cima (7/10) was strong enough to carry the day, as Teal take to higher rungs in the standings at 3-1-0 and Gold remain smack in the middle of the pack at 2-2-0.

The ‘BIG GAME OF THE WEEK’ between Captain Kalen Hunter’s 3-0-0 Black and Captain Nick Meglich’s 3-0-0 Sand served as the creamy middle to the Week Four slate. Everything and nothing at all were at stake in this one, but with both teams looking like strong Cup contenders, the SDFHL TV ($9.95 a month, streaming) ratings were through the roof for this initial clash of (presumed) titans. The storylines were pretty obvious…Black would need to find a way to contain Alex ‘Thanos’ Giummo, while managing to get the ball behind perhaps the hottest goalie in the past three seasons, Captain Meglich himself. Black’s plan of attack…a considerable amount of ‘extra defensive attention’ on Thanos, and some good old fashioned faith in the living legend last line of defense that is Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly. I am but one player on Black, but I could think of nothing the entire game but that ‘extra defensive attention’. The general plan to contain Giummo was working, with a scoreless first period serving as proof, but also proving that it is very difficult to both worry about a whirling dervish of destruction in the defensive end and push the offensive pace at the other. Josh Tran finally broke through for Black with a sizzling solo effort at 8:25 in the second, and while this provided an opportunity for the Black bench to exhale JUST a bit, they still held the majority of their collective breath and remained focused on the elephant on the court. The play swayed back and forth, with both teams finding shots and chances, but with time running thin in the third, it looked like Kelly and his Black mates might do the unthinkable…the undoable…not just contain, but actually STOP Giummo! Not…quite…a flurry of activity along the right side of Kelly’s crease led to chance…rebound…chance…batted ball…back of the net…Giummo to tie it with 0:48 to play (Parsa Mostafavi & Erin Plone). So, a very valiant, and not entirely in vain effort from Black, and perhaps the most satisfying ending imaginable for those SDFHL TV subscribers (and the executives at the network) as these two undefeated giants settled to a 1-1 tie. Both Captain Meglich (15/16) and Sean Kelly (20/21) were amazing, as advertised, and speaking of ‘advertised’…the price just went up for the commercial spots for the playoff rematch…

It was another ‘middleweight’ bout up next on the fight card, with Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s 2-1-0 Pink trotting their league-leading offense out to face Captain Will Heinl’s plucky 1-1-1 Purple. Beyond the obvious team goal of, you know, winning the game and improving playoff probability, there was considerable potential for the league scoring race to heat up, what with the second horse in that race (Captain Cerasuolo with 6 and 4, coming in), and (at least) a trio of other thoroughbreds in the mix, including Pink’s Jon Salt (5 and 3, coming in) and Purple’s Justin Hepler (4 and 2, coming in). With Thanos held to just ONE goal against Black, there was much whinnying and champing (not ‘chomping’, you luddites!) at the bit as warmups wrapped. With the comedic timing of Mr. Ed, it was Tom Darlington (of all horses) first out of the gate for Purple at 9:14 in the first (Hepler), but usual stallion suspect, Jon Salt, was quick to gallop Pink back to even on the powerplay at 8:40 (Chris Tran). Captain Cerasuolo found his racing form in the second, slotting his seventh of the season home at 8:50 (Salt), and Salt’s second of the game at 5:04 padded Pink’s lead to 3-1. Jon Zygelman (a fine horse, in his own right) ponied up his first (!) of the season at 3:23 to cut the lead back to one (Gary Peters), leaving things tight going into the final stretch. Eric Willard whipped Pink on with his fourth of the season at 6:25 (Salt & Shelby Shattuck), and while Hepler would jockey Purple back to within one with his second at 5:34 (Pat Gladstone & Gary Peters), Captain Cerasuolo said ‘neigh’ to a Purple comeback, potting an empty-netter with 0:30 to play (Willard). I have absolutely no idea how or why this recap became equine themed, but the important bit (more horsey humor) is that Pink got to the wire first for the 5-3 win, while Purple ‘placed’ second in a two horse race. Chuck Bender (15/18) was stable (subtle) again for Pink in the win, while Captain Heinl (26/30) and Purple were dealt another nagging loss. If you’re handicapping for the remainder of the Wing 2026 scoring race, the Week Four results have Captain Cerasuolo (12) gaining ground on the lead horse (Giummo at 15) with his two goal effort, Jon Salt (12) trotting up alongside his captain with 2 and 2, and Justin Hepler (9) keeping himself in the derby with 1 and 2. I remain headed for the glue factory with five points on the season…I’ll show myself out.

The nightcap was genuinely THE BIG GAME of Week Four, with Captain Brennen Abel’s 0-3-0 White squaring off against Captain Owen Perks’ 0-2-1 Blue in the second official game under the ‘Young Canuck Cup’ banner. If you’re confused/missed it in previous recaps, the Young Canuck Cup is a winner take all (prize TBD) regular season round robin affair between the Black, Blue, and White. Black defeated White in Week One, so a White loss to Blue would ‘eliminate’ Abel & Company from contention in this silly little side quest. Back in the ‘real world’, a loss to Blue would leave White at 0-4-0, cellar mates with Captain Wirt’s Red, and very close (already) to ‘must win’ mode in March. With just one point in three tries, Blue wasn’t exactly sitting pretty. A win over White would be huge, while a loss would flop them below the cut line with Red and push some panic into their play going forward. So…both teams VERY much needing the win, and VERY much dreading a loss…you know where this is going…a 2-2 tie! Yeah…went cart before the horse on this recap (guh…back to horses). It was Captain Abel acting alone at 6:56 in the first to give his team the first lead, and, ever-so-fittingly, Captain Perks to tie it for Blue just 1:30 later (Wasif Hussain). Abel snatched the lead back for White at 3:45 (Jim LaGrossa), but Dan Jurgens would draw Blue back to a draw at 3:48 in the second (Hussain). That was all the scoring from either side in this one, as Blue’s Mason Holcomb (11/13) and White’s Gabe Davenport (17/19) held the line through a scoreless third to leave this installment of the Young Canuck Cup a stalemate. Mad props to Davenport, who earned the second star in this one with his second straight game of allowing just two goals. If Gabe maintains this improved play, White’s rocky early road may well turn to a paved second half path to the playoffs. White have another ‘important’ game in Week Five against Captain Karns’ 2-2-0 Green, while Blue face a (theoretically) tougher challenge in the (super highly anticipated…trust me, bro) final game of the ‘Young Canuck Cup’ against Captain Hunter’s Black.

An early season losing streak is better than a late season losing streak, but an 0-3-0 start is obviously something that every team hopes to avoid. If nothing else, getting that first win, or at least that first point in the standings gives you at least a sliver of confidence, and provides some foundation on which to build. Captain Owen Perks’ Blue came in to Week Three play at 0-2-0, having dropped their opener against Pink 3-2, and their encore effort to Green 2-1. So, some solace in ‘close’, but growing concern over ‘no cigar’. Captain Will Heinl’s Purple looked to build off their first win of the season…a late, stunning comeback to beat Gold 4-3 in Week Two. Justin Hepler put Purple on the board first with his fourth of the season at 3:40 (Tom Darlington), and when Ty Pereira doubled the damage just 0:27 later (Hepler), it was looking like another case of the Sunday Blues for Perks & Company. Wasif Hussain finally found an answer for Blue…his second of the season at 1:20 in the second, and Hussain would provide the second assist on Captain Perks’ first (!) of the season at 6:59 in the third (Craig Russell with the primary). The score stayed on level footing the rest of the way, in spite of a VERY slanted shot count in Blue’s favor (31-11), as Captain Heinl (29/31) willed (see what I did there) his team to a 2-2 tie. Mason Holcomb (9/11) was considerably less tested at the other end, but did enough to earn Blue their first point in the standings. Amazingly enough, that lone point actually has Blue above the cut line through the first third of the season. That position will be put to the test this Sunday when the ball drops on the next installment of the ‘Young Canuck Cup’ with Captain Perk’s Blue taking on Captain Abel’s White.

Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink and Captain Ryan Karns’ Green had each experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat coming into Week Three play, and the teams shared similar goals for/against lines as well (both with six goals for and Green having allowed just one more goal against with seven). So…early season, same record, similar offensive and defensive track records…dog fight to the last minute of the third, right? Wrong. Very wrong. I mean, the first five minutes were a 0-0 paragon of parity, but that’s about the time that Captain Cerasuolo chose violence. Darin’s first of the game came at 4:39 in the first (Eric Willard & Jason Olver), and he popped a second at 0:37 (Chris Tran). The Olver assist was his first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, JASON! Olver promptly decided he’d like to record his first career SDFHL goal at 7:48 (Leah Gonzales & Chris Tran…please reread the end of the last sentence for an encore back pat for the newcomer), staking Pink to a three goal lead. Jackson Tomaszewski provided the first retaliation for Green at 7:23 (Carl Vankoughnett & Vance Morra), and the teams exchanged goals for the balance of the middle period…Pink’s Jon Salt from Tran at 3:40, Green’s Jenna Chercoe at 1:34 (Captain Karns), and Salt again from Captain Cerasuolo at 0:40 (NOTE: another late period gut punch). The first half of the third period went by as quietly as the first half of the first, but Salt broke the scoring silence with his third of the game at 4:20 (Gonzales & Captain Cerasuolo) to expand Pink’s lead to a commanding, if not crushing 6-2. Morra cut the lead back to three at 2:42 (Vankoughnett), but Pink would flip the OVERKILL button in the waning minutes…Willard from Captain Cerasuolo at 1:40, Captain Cerasuolo from Willard at 0:57, and a FOURTH goal and SEVENTH point for Cerasuolo at 0:10 (Tran) to cap a stunning performance that screamed ‘parity, schmarity’. The 9-3 beatdown moves Pink to 2-1-0, and also puts them in lockstep with Sand for the team goal scoring lead with fifteen. Captain Cerasuolo was a slam dunk choice for POTW, and Chuck Bender notched his second win of the season with a 16/19 outing. Matt Henderson (12/21) absorbed every ounce of Pink’s brute force…no doubt with his customary aplomb (the man is stoic, folks). As lopsided as the final was, it does not count as any more than one win, and one loss. Green will hope to erase the memory of this ordeal this Sunday against a winless Red, while Pink look to perpetuate their parade of punishment against a 1-1-1 Purple.

The only thing rougher than the batch of team names churned out this season has been the plight of Captain Brennen Abel’s White. Actually, that’s not entirely true, Abel’s Crew had not one, but two winless teams with which to share the standings basement coming into Week Three, meaning that a win, or at least a point might serve as not only a boost to morale, but a boost above the cut line and into the playoff fray. Captain Nick Vacchio’s 1-1-0 Gold stood in the way of that boost, and an early goal from Captain Vacchio himself at 7:27 in the first (Steve Pugliese & Vinny Santora) had Abel and his mates feeling like it would be deja vu all over again. Jim LaGrossa registered a response for White at 3:46 in the first (Rob Gaudio), and when a scoreless second came and went with White actually holding a slim edge in shots (16-14), the stage was set for a rousing wrestle into the win column for White. Alas, Old Man (Steve) Linke had other plans, converting on a powerplay with 9:47 to play after notorious goon, Jenna Chercoe, was sent off for a vicious interference infraction. Captain Vacchio notched the lone assist on the Linke goal which would turn out to be the game-winner in the 2-1 Gold win. A second Gold win meant a third straight loss to open the season for Gabe Davenport (16/18) and White, and while Davenport did not feature as one of the three ‘stars of the game’, the league applauds him for a strong effort as he continues to learn and grow as a goalie. Ironically, it was his counterpart, John Kushneryk (23/24), who nearly came to regret his recent tutelage of young Gabe, with the padawan nearly outdueling the master (nerd alert) to snatch an all important first win for his side. That ‘boost above the cut line and into the playoff fray’ is now the plan for Abel & Company this Sunday, as another ‘Young Canuck Cup’ installment is issued when White takes on Captain Owen Perks’ Blue.

One needs to slow one’s roll when prattling on to much about a ‘battle of undefeated teams’ this early in the season, but it is always intriguing when two lossless sides match up beyond the first two or three weeks of play. Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black survived a late White charge in Week One to prevail 5-3, then stymied a strong Red side 3-1 in their second go. Captain William Teglia’s Teal outran Green in a 6-4 track meet opener, then sailed past White 5-2. Barring a second Week Three tie, one of these two would make an early season claim to ‘elite’, and the other drop into the ranks of ‘solid contender’. So, not exactly high stakes, but certainly a ‘measuring stick’ game for both sides. John Kushneryk continued his sizzling season (for both Black and Gold), this time breaking the scoring seal at 3:25 in the first (Josh Tran). Neither team mustered much in the way of chances in that first ten minutes, with each side cobbling together just three shots, but Teal would hold an 8-6 shot edge in the second, and a 15-5 chasm in the third. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a 26-14 shot total edge in Teal’s favor for the game, but SUPER sub Nick Meglich (26/26) stopped everything thrown his way. Of course, that means that Kushneryk’s first period goal would stand as the game-winner, but Josh Tran did add an unassisted insurance strike at 9:20 in the second to give Black considerably more grace under Teal’s fire. The 2-0 win for Black is hardly of the ‘statement’ variety, but it’s another notch in the far left column, and further proof that they can hang tough with tough teams. Chuck Bender (12/14) was solid as ever in his own sub stint at the other end, but the result finally puts the ‘L’ in Teal, leaving just two ‘perfect’ teams in the Wing 2026 pool. As fate (and the result of the final Week Three game, for which you are about to read a recap) would have it, Captain Hunter’s 3-0-0 Black enter the arena for a second straight ‘Battle Of Undefeated Teams’ (read with a booming voice, please) when they take on Captain Meglich’s 3-0-0 Sand this Sunday.

If you missed the spoiler above, the box scores, the standings, and all other records of the results from games that took place six days ago, buckle up for a gripping summary of the Week Three nightcap between Captain Josh Wirt’s 0-2-0 Red, and Captain Nick Meglich’s 2-0-0 Sand. SDFHL historians will look back on this season and agree that the scheduling gods were unkind to Captain Wirt’s Crew. Red fell 0-3 to Gold in their opener, with a buzzsaw backstop performance from Kushneryk making their 22-8 shot dominance mean absolutely nothing, then turned to face living league legend, Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly, who stopped 17/18, all while Kushneryk AGAIN dashed Red’s hopes with both the game-winning goal, and the game-saving save (yes…as a defender!). Well, thank f*ck Red would get some relief in Week Three with…oh…just Sand, with f*cking Thanos (Alex Giummo) up front, and a combination of all of the Avengers in nets (Captain Meglich)…cool, cool, cool. ‘Thanos’ struck first at 7:20 (Wendy Enright & Jeremy Copp), and second at 6:20 (Parsa Mostafavi), but Eric Caliguiri stopped the bleeding for Red with his first of the season at 5:04 (Captain Wirt). The inspirational music swelled in the second, as our intrepid underdogs knotted the score with a Captain Wirt powerplay conversion at 8:12 (Eli Schonbrun & Bryan Ossa), then seized their first lead of the season (!) with a Schonbrun twine-rippler at 4:49 (Captain Wirt & Joe Malki). Thanos was having none of this rousing comeback nonsense, snatching up his third infinity stone at 2:17 (Andy Strathman) to send both teams into the second break on even (deceptively even) footing. Trevor Vick (yes, he is also up front for Sand…Jebus help us all) put Sand back in front at 8:02 in the third (Giummo & Strathman), then it was infinity stone number four at 7:46 (Trevor Vick & Joel Gattey), and the complete set of five with an empty-netter at 0:59 (Mostafavi). If my prose proved confusing at all, that was Alex Giummo finishing with a ho-hum 5 and 1 to (over)power Sand to a 6-3 win, keeping them perfect at 3-0-0. Captain Meglich followed his perfect 26/26 sub stint with a 26/29 performance, proving he is also tucking a cape beneath that goalie jersey each week. Don Tran (9/14) and Red can only take solace in the fact that the scheduling gods absolutely blew their load (technical term) with this grueling first third gauntlet. A win this Sunday over a 1-2-0 Green would not only right the ship, but could push (what I know in my heart to be) a quality team above the cut line for the first time. As teased in the previous recap, Captain Meglich & Company will test that full collection of stones and other assorted super powers against Captain Kalen’s Black in Week Four in another BATTLE OF UNDEFEATED TEAMS (read with booming echo, please)…