The post season picked up right where the regular season left off…with #6 Red taking on #3 Brown. While the rematch was much tighter than the first encounter (with Brown blanking Red 4-0), the end result remained the same. Jordan Pynn converted bright and early for Brown (9:24 in the first), but Steve Linke finally solved Don Tran (13/14) to even the ledger later in the frame. Tran was perfect the rest of the way, and the heroics of Chuck Russell (28/30) kept Red treading through a scoreless second, and into the thick of the third. It was then that Marc Lapointe (once again) proved his penchant for playoff poise, netting the game-winner to spoil Red’s spoiler plot, 2-1. The win moves Brown forward in the Winners’ Bracket to face the brute force of Navy, while the loss leaves Red down to their last thread in a Losers’ Bracket showdown with Silver. The playoffs are a different world, but both teams can draw some confidence from the fact that they have already beaten their next opponent once this season–Brown beat Navy 2-1 in Week Four, and Red bested Silver 3-2 in Week One.

Leave it to Captain Salt’s Navy to crash the playoff parity party. The somehow-second-seeded juggernaut staged a reenactment of their 4-1 regular season roll over Silver, adding an extra goal for good measure this time around. Luke Wollmer (2 and 1), Zach Salt (2 and 0), and Jon Salt (1 and 1), led the hit parade, staking Navy to a 5-0 advantage before a late Gideon Schon strike ended Don Tran’s substitute shutout bid (10/11) and provided a briefest blip of pride for Silver in the 5-1 loss. Navy cruise on to face Brown…one of only two teams to have beaten them thus far. Silver will look to stay alive against Red, in a rematch of their close/tough Week One loss. Whatever happens in the lower bracket, the early season Navy/Black buzz may be coming full circle, as the guns-ablazin’ former chugs onward toward a meeting with the guns-asilencin’ latter…

I don’t think many pundits would have predicted that Yellow v Orange would be the closest game of the night. The top seed had strutted and sashayed through the regular season, with their only loss coming in their debut against Navy back on June 13th. By contrast, Orange barely (and I mean barely) even made the playoffs after losing their final two games of the season by a combined score of 11-1. I should probably mention…Kris Tosczak…out of the lineup for the bottom seed. Also…Sean Kelly (so hot right now, Sean Kelly) in nets for Yellow. All of these facts set the stage for what seemed like absolute fiction as it unfolded, as Orange not only battled Yellow to a 2-2 tie through regulation, but also outshot the top dogs! Eric Willard put Yellow in front in the first, and Jim LaGrossa answered in the second. Joe Nguyen actually gave Orange the lead early in the third, only to see that challenge met and matched by new comer, Ash Wadhwa. A surreal, thrilling regulation gave way to a wild overtime, with chances at either end. The scene finally snapped back to reality with 1:26 to play, as (who else) Josh Wirt tucked home the game-winner to keep the favorites moving up, and send Orange down, 3-2. The win leads Yellow to an intriguing rematch with Black, whom they handled with relative ease back in Week Four. Black is riding the hottest (and best) goalie in the league, but Yellow will counter with the return of Alex Theis. Orange will look to extend their season in a do or die second dance with Green. The twist…Orange smashed Green 5-0 in their Week Five meeting!

The favorites had survived scares in two of the first three games, and squashed the lower seed in the other. Green was last up to take care of business against neighboring seed, Black. The five seed started things with a bang, as Kim Hernandez deflected a Mark Scelfo shot under the bar and in to make it 1-0, Black. That’s how this one would end…1-0 Black. Nick Vacchio came up one save short (10/11) in his first career playoff start. It was an intense, well-played game, but there is no greater super power on the rink right now than Sean Kelly. Kelly stopped 15/15, racking up his third straight shutout for Black. He has stopped 51/51 over that stretch, and absolutely willed Black’s way onward. That way leads next to a showdown with Yellow, in what is sure to be a can’t miss goalie duel. Green must swallow a tough loss and regroup against a suddenly threatening Orange. Week Two of the playoff is going to be ridonkulous, folks!

It was too little, too late, but still felt pretty great for Teal, as they poured every remaining ounce of pride and passion into a 6-2 Silver smackdown. Jon Zygleman (1 and 4) was a Zygel-man possessed, factoring in all but one of the half dozen strikes, as Teal exorcised a full season of frustration in one thirty minute stretch. Steve Scott, Ryan Belbin, and Sadie Hellstrom each contributed 1 and 1, Ramsey Ksar accounted for the game-winner, and Sally Jackson scored her first career SDFHL goal to add a delicious ribbon of icing to the farewell cake. Nick Meglich stopped 14/16 to earn his second win in forgettable season full of fantastic, but futile efforts from the returning netminder. Andy Strathman and Vinny Santora provide the pair of responses for Silver, who back into the playoffs as a shaky seven seed. They will need a much better effort to survive a first round matchup with powerhouse Navy. The two points could not prevent Teal from a dead last finish, but this win will sustain them over the string of hockeyless Sundays to come…

It was an equally meaningless win for entirely different reasons for Yellow. Pereira’s pride and joy kept purring right along, putting a wobbly White down and out for good in the process with a 3-0 knock out punch. Josh Wirt put up the game-winner early in the first, and tucked home empty net insurance in the third, with Captain Pereira himself providing the second period strike, and Sean Kelly stopping 21/21 to seal White’s fate, and keep Yellow great going into the second season. It’s hard to believe that Yellow, who finished atop the pile at 8-1-1, started the season with a loss! It was a 5-0 thrashing that came courtesy of Navy, but also came in the absence of superstars Josh Wirt and Shawna Hamon. Yellow will have to wait until at least Week Three of the playoffs to avenge that outcome, but the focus has to be on taking care of business this Sunday against Orange. Captain Dinino and his crew battled valiantly down the stretch, but scored just one goal in their final four games…all after losing sniper Jeff Anderson to lunacy in Week Eight. They will be golfing and watching football with members of Teal and Pink, counting the days to Week One of the new season.

Green and Black represent the middle of the playoff pack at four and five, respectively, so it seems only fitting that the two met in the middle at 0-0 in the final week of play, just one week before playing for real stakes. Yes, the rare, socceresque scoreless tie…perhaps a bit less unique, considering Sean Kelly was guarding one of the nets. Kelly remained perfect on the night, stopping 26/26 (!) (that’s 47/47 in back to back games, if you’re scoring at home), while tenderfoot tender Nick Vacchio (13/13) did half the work for the same pay. So, no ground gained or lost for either side, and the dance partner will remain the same this Sunday. Steve Jones should be back in the lineup for Green this weekend, which should push the potential for a non-zero output from that side, and Black will hope for more Kelly heroics…one goal may be enough for them, at this rate.

It was do or die for Pink in the final week of play. Spoiler alert…they died. The underdogs could have salvaged a sad sack season with one big win in their final outing. Unfortunately, that final outing came against resident throat-ripper-outers, Navy. It was a great game (described by our own Min-Soo Smith as ‘very intense’), and Andrew Jacobsen did put Pink in front 1-0 in the early going. The second period belonged to Navy, with Luke Wolmer equalizing, and Zach Salt flipping the lead short-handed (ouchie). Patrick Walker put more fuel on his claim to Calder with his ninth of the season to knot it at twos early in the third, but it was Lil’ Salt again with the soul-crushing, season ending game-winner with 2:13 to play. Big Salt assisted on all three Navy goals, and Don Tran filled in fantastically for his distant, distant cousin, Chris, stopping 14/16. The 3-2 loss leaves Pink lounging with the other losers, planning Sunday events for the next five weeks with…family (*shudder*). Navy advance as the second seed, and will look to take the first step toward the Cup against Silver this Sunday.

Brown and Red…another playoff preview in the final week of play! Brown remained the three seed, and Red held at the six, after Brown took care of business with a tone-setting 4-0 win. Jordan Pynn and Mark Ennsmann each produced 2 and 1, and Captain Nagy wrapped an incredible season with a pair of assists to keep the favorites favored going into Week One of the playoffs. Don Tran stopped all eighteen shots he faced from Red attackers, who must have been having fits of futility. One player who was definitely having fits was Captain Joel Gattey. Gattey was assessed a game misconduct for his, well, misconduct in dealing with officials. He will be out of the lineup for his team’s first two playoff games, which of course means he may not have a chance to join his team again this season. The moral of that story, as with that of White’s Jeff Anderson…don’t lose your cool with the officials out there!

Thunderbolts and lightning…very, very frightening. A rare show from Mother Nature’s San Diego affiliate soaked the surface, and shook our on-site COO, Min Soo Smith. Smith reported lightning strikes very close to the rink in the hour leading up to the scheduled Week Eleven opener. All Week Eleven games have been moved to Sunday, September 12th. We’ll hope for more typical/less shocking conditions to wrap the regular season on that date. If you’re itching to play, be sure to sign up for the Labor Day fun and games taking place this weekend…

We have arrived at the eleventh and final week of play, and there is still one playoff spot remaining to be claimed. Orange can only sit and hope, while White and Pink put hope into action against…the top two teams in the standings (the schedule never fails to disappoint). Both teams will look to find that extra notch on the dial when they need it most, as the Summer 2021 season rocks and rolls to a close this Sunday.

Yellow let a would-be-win slip away late, but still sewed up the top playoff seed with a hard-fought and entertaining 1-1 draw with Green. Eric Willard had the top dogs on top less than twenty seconds in, but neither side found twine for nearly three full periods thereafter. The early strike was all that Chuck Bender (17/18) would allow in a fill-in stint for Nick Vacchio, and his counterpart, Don Tran (9/10) only had his substitute shutout bid spoiled by a Tyler Winstead strike with just 1:34 to play. Captain Chad Goins suffered a nasty cut/contusion to his nose in a collision with Ash Wadhwa (in to replace the departed Philip Burke) midway through the third. He has been patched up, and expects to be in the lineup for Green when the playoffs commence on September 12th. Meanwhile, in the ‘insult to injury’ department, Goins was actually called for interference on the play. Green’s skipper took it in stride, and both sides have expressed an eagerness for a potential playoff rematch. Yellow will officially enter the playoffs as the one seed, while Green can reach as high as two, and land as low as five.

You can’t spell ‘Teal’ without ‘L’, and Teal have now racked up enough L’s to spell ‘licking large, luscious, lavender-scented llama labia’. It was Brown’s turn for the ‘second summer season bye week’, as Marc and Mark (Lapointe and Nagy) scored the first period game-winner and the second period insurance marker, respectively, in a 2-0 tip toe past terrible Teal. Matt Rogers served up assists on both goals, and Don Tran stopped all fourteen shots he faced to earn his first shutout on the season. Teal will finally put an end to the misery against Silver this Sunday, while Brown hope to improve (or at least maintain) their playoff position against a revitalized Red side.

Red’s ‘revitalized’ state was a direct result of their stunning 3-2 Week Ten takedown of run and gun Navy. Coming off an only slightly less stunning 4-1 loss to a pedestrian Pink, Red needed a win against Navy (and against any and all odds) to keep their eyes on the playoff prize. Enter Brian Sheptycki. The POTW honoree scored first and last for Red, and provided the primary on Steve Linke’s power play punch to willpower Red to an improbable victory. Captain Jon Salt had Navy on the board early, and brother Zach kept it close in the third, but Chuck Russell (14/16) would hold on to even his personal record at 3-3-1, and vault Red into the playoff promised land at 4-4-1. This Sunday’s schedule will find Navy looking to eliminate Pink, and hold onto their second seed in the process, while Red will face Brown with little more than playoff posturing on the line,

Jeff Anderson’s mouth may well go down as the death of White this season. The super sniper’s Week Eight f bombs have blown a gaping hole in Captain Dinino’s line-up over the past three weeks, and have sent the once smooth sailing ship sinking…fast. Week Ten represented the second game of Anderson’s two game suspension, essentially their third full game in a row without him in action, and, well…White’s third straight loss. This one was particularly damning, as it came against Black…a team equally desperate to turn toward playoff safety. Erin Dowrey and Captain Chris Malki birthed twin 2 and 1 babies, and Janice Darlington and Justin Stege got in on the act in a 6-0 soul-crushing rout that propelled Black to second season security, and left White down to their last gasp. That last gasp comes against oxygen hogging Yellow, of course. White will need (a level-headed) Anderson and some good fortune to steer safely on, while Black can enjoy a nice playoff tune-up with some potential to improve their standings stake against Green.

It was all on the line for both sides, as a 3-5-0 Silver faced a 3-4-2 Orange in the most playoff-implication-laden match of the season. Orange would need at least a point in their final game to avoid a nervous, pacing bye week. Silver could ill afford anything but a win, in spite of the Week Eleven safety net waiting to cushion any potential fall. A trio of Silver scorers (Gideon Schon, Andy Strathman, Captain Ryan Karns) squashed any and all suspense early on, and Strathman added a (last second) second period strike to seal the 4-1 win. Chuck Bender (16/17) recorded his second win of the evening, this time for his own team, and this time one that REALLY counted. Silver have unofficially/officially clinched a playoff berth at 4-5-0, and can lick their chops and look longingly at their next scheduled opponent, Teal. As the only team to have played ten games, Orange’s regular season has already come to an end, but their season may not be over yet. Their hopes rest in the hands of the top two teams, as Navy faces Pink, and Yellow squares off with White. If things go ‘by the numbers’ in those two games, Orange will squeeze through…