Buzz Kill

Week 5:

Captain Ty Pereira and his ‘PersNICKeTY Murder Hornets’ have taken all of the sting out of the Navy and Black ‘superteam’ narrative that dominated the headlines over the first three weeks of play. If their Week Four 4-0 blanking of Black was a statement win, then their 7-1 Week Five trouncing of Red was the exclamation point. Yellow now sit alone atop the standings at 4-1-0, and the buzz is growing for this team as we enter the second half…

Orange welcomed Green back from their extended holiday/bye week break with a 5-0 punch in the nose. Carl Vankoughnett struck for 2 and 2, Kris Tosczak chipped in 1 and 2, and super sub Chuck Russell stopped 23/23 to push Captain Wirth’s crew to their first win of the season. Jet Javelet and Jim LaGrossa provided the other two tallies for Orange, who keep pace with Red and Silver in the cut line pack at 1-2-2. They will face Pink in an important lower half showdown this Sunday. Green will look to rebound from their first loss of the season in Week Six against the hapless (and near hopeless) Teal.

Navy proved in Week One that there is a right way to handle Hornets. Red chose the wrong way in Week Five. Yellow is developing quite the reputation for being both stingy (soft g) and stingy (hard g). Their defense allowed just ten shots (of which just one sneaked past Nick Adkins), while they swarmed Chuck Russell (25/32) at the other end, tattooing a touchdown on their victims in the process. The 7-1 sting operation featured 2 and 1 from Josh Wirt, 1 and 2 from Harsh Wanigaratne, 1 and 1 from Jack Traughber, and goals from Eric Willard, Mike Chiaco, and Bill ‘Fetty Wap’ Casey. Shawna Hamon and Phil Burke each collected two assists, and Captain Pereira had a helper, as well. In other words, production is coming from every corner of this roster, and Yellow is playing an impressive, balanced, and hard-to-handle team game heading in to the second half.

Woe is Teal. Tylergate® is the least of the worries for Captain Mark DeGraffenreid & Company, who have finally settled to rock bottom in the standings after suffering a third straight loss. Andrew Jacobsen awoke from his statistical slumber to slather 2 and 1 on the cellar dwellers, rookie Patrick Walker provided a pair of punches, and Bob Marsolini capped the 5-0 win with a sweet snipe off the faceoff in the late going. Nick Vacchio was lights out in a stand-in capacity for Jimm Reifsnyder, stopping 28/28 to help his foster team to their first win in five tries. At 1-4-0, Captain Copp’s crew have a long way to go to playoff promise, but the AJ sighting alone has to have Pink players at least tickled with a tinge of confidence going into their big Week Six matchup with Orange.

The Salt boys bounced Navy back from a Week Four loss, accounting for all of the scoring in a 4-1 slide past Silver. Captain Jon dropped a hat trick and a helper, and Bother Zach’s 1 and 1 included the game-winner, while Alex Theis sparkled in Chris Tran’s shoes, stopping 26/27. Vance Morra’s hot hand provided the lone strike for Silver, who have been the very model of inconsistency through the first half of their season. They move into their bye week at 2-3-0, with table-topping Yellow lying in wait for them on their return. Navy remain very much in the hunt for the top playoff spot at 3-1-1, and will look to keep pace with the lead pack in an intriguing Week Six tilt with White.

Captain Mark Nagy’s Brown wiped White into the loss column for the first time in Week Five, notching their second straight win, and moving closer to playoff safety to wrap their first half. Matt Rogers’ second of the season was the first of the game, and Captain Nagy himself provided the second and the game-winning third to move Brown out to a 3-0 lead through two. Tim Helmbrecht and Gary Peters kept things interesting (in vain) for White in the third, providing the bread for sub/sparkplug Steph Palomo’s power play goal meat, as the score settled in favor of Brown, 4-2. Don Tran improved his personal record to 2-1-1 on the season with a 14/16 effort, while Cory Brin suffered his first loss in three games with a 15/19 line. Both team sit at five points, with White holding a game in hand, and Brown holding the head-to-head edge. They will both face very tough tests in Week Six (Brown v Yellow, and White v Navy)…games which may very well dictate that trajectory of each team for the remainder of the season…

Not So Fast!

Week 4:

Both Navy and Black were forced to slow their respective rolls, as Brown and Yellow flushed the two titans into the loss column in a pair of Week Four stunners. The parity plot has certainly thickened, although Orange, Teal, and Pink are still missing both the clutch and the gas pedal, thus far…

This week’s special guest writer is: Captain Ryan Karns! Well done, Ryan…thanks for giving me the week off! If you (yes, you…anyone) would like to write this Week Five recaps, please let me (Pope) know…

In the Wiz Kalifa matchup of the season, Yellow shined bright, while Black pulled a true Wiz Kalifa and faded away. Yellow continued their strong start to the season, as they tallied two quick strikes in the first period. Harsh Wanigaratne and Eric Willard both picked up two points in the 4-0 Yellow win. Nick Adkins impressed again with his second straight shutout, and everyone’s favorite…a goalie point! The Malkis went silent for the first time this season, as Black was outshot, and got caught playing catch-up early. Sean Kelly suffered his first loss on the season, allowing more goals in this game than he has the first three weeks, combined. Black will look to regroup on their bye week, and come out strong in Week Six against a lively Red team.

In the second matchup of the night, we had a white hot White team versus a Teal team resembling a certain teal team in the NHL. Jeff Anderson continued his point streak, picking up a goal and an assist. Chris Tran notched two goals, including the game-winner for his team. For the first time all season, Captain Mark DeGraffenreid was held off the score sheet, but Nick Adkins, Min-Soo “Stick Whisperer” Smith, and Sadie Hellstrom did their best to muster up enough offense in the late going. They fell just short, as White held on for the 3-2 win. As if things weren’t bad enough for Teal already, they now look to find a replacement for Tyler Lyne, who (fittingly) seemed to ghost Teal as they took on White, in true Casper fashion. Teal looks to get back into the win column as they take on a Pink team that seems to be in a complete tailspin.

What can Brown do for you? Captain Mark Nagy says “we can win”! Unlike UPS, Nagy’s ‘tRan Outta Toilet Pynnper’ delivered on Sunday (well…this Sunday. at least), peppering the Salts, and knocking off Navy, 2-1. What a bounce back game from a Week Three to forget for Brown. We had a Tran-off in net, as Don (23/24) got the best of his counterpart, Chris (16/18). Zach Salt struck late in the third with a short-handed goal to give Navy some life, but Jordan Pynn and Brown’s penalty killers would slam that door shut in a nail biting affair. Deborah Finucane continues to be the most dominant female, and a top player, overall. She picked up her eighth assist over the first four games. Matt Rogers scored the game winning goal, which opposing captain, Jon Salt, called the “goal of the year” (probably because it was actually scored by his teammate, Patrick Fusco). Brown goes into next week with some confidence, while Navy takes on a streaking Silver team.

This Red v Orange matchup did not disappoint, and actually turned out to be the game of the week. Carl Vankoughnett struck just 0:32 into the game for Orange, and Jet Javelet continued to fly high this season, tallying another goal to match the output of first round pick, Kris Tosczak. There does, however, look to be a depth problem for Captain Wirth & Company, as six players on Orange are still looking for their first goal of the season. The Jurgens-less Red team relied heavily on first round pick, Brian Sheptycki, who replied with “everyone hop on my back”! Sheptycki was a man possessed on the floor this week, tallying a hat trick, an assist, and the game-winning goal with just 0:13 remaining in the game. With that, Red pulled another rabbit out of the hat–a thrilling 4-3 victory. Orange goes into Week Five still looking for their first victory of the season, as Steve Deppensmith (12/16) falls to 0-1-2.

In the nightcap, we had Captain Copp’s Pink taking on Captain Karns’ Silver. Spoiler alert, there would be no silver lining for Pink. Silver bells were ringing early and often, as they put up nine, yes, NINE goals on Pink’s Jimm Reifsnyder (18/27). Pink was missing London Peters, Patrick Walker, and Greg Mallinger. While AJ was present, his teammates could not seem to find him, either. Vance Morra seemed to be saving all his goals for this matchup, going from 0 to 4 on the season. Saidi stand in, Jen Caringal, notched three assists, and Captain Karns chipped in two helpers of his own (his first points of the season). Name a player on Silver, and chances are they had multiple points. Ezra Cohen and Nadia Saidi were absent from the 9-1 score fest win, but hope to keep the party rolling in their return this week. Silver now moves to 2-2-0, and looks to keep climbing the standings. As for Pink, they’ll need to find some confidence (and some scoring), as they are still searching for their first win of the season.

Knot Yet

Week 3:

The big, ballyhooed battle between Navy and Black was certainly not a bust, but it did nothing to answer the question of superiority between the two early season favorites. As ties go, this one is certainly of the more intriguing variety, keeping both teams undefeated, but also ‘imperfect’ by each other’s hand. Meanwhile, another tie has formed, as Captain Goins’ Green heads into the holiday and their bye week with the same record as the these featured front runners…

Captain Copp’s Pink Quarantinis have a potency problem. Perennial score-at-will-team-carrier, Andrew Jacobsen, was absent from the score sheet in Pink’s two losses to open the season, and he matched that production by being just plain absent in Week Three. Shawna Hamon returned from her injury absence, and immediately made an impact for Yellow, notching her first of the season, and the only goal of the game in Yellow’s 1-0 win. Eric Willard had the lone assist on the game-winner, and Nick Adkins was sublime in nets, stopping 23/23 to subvert the lopsided shot count, steal a win, and push Yellow to 2-1-0 going into the holiday hiatus. Nick Meglich stopped 9/10 to absorb yet another loss for Pink in Jimm Reifsnyder’s absence. It’s hard to win games when you don’t score, and Pink has just one goal through nine periods of play. Were it not for newcomer, Patrick Walker, they would quite literally have nothing to show for three games of effort, and they now sit alone at the bottom of the standings. Still, a win in their Week Four matchup with a so far so-so Silver could vault them back into the hunt…they may just need AJ to find his A game for that to happen.

A ‘so far so-so Silver’ was good as gold in their first win of the season over basement-bound Brown. Vinny Santora (who may or may not have self-advocated for front page glory last night) scored what had to be the goal of the season…nay, the history of this fine league, absolutely hammering home a corner-picking, museum-quality slapper to break a scoreless tie in the second, and send the capacity crowd into frenzied elation. Many wept openly, and every adult female in attendance (without exception) immediately de-pantied themselves and buried Santora in a lacy landslide. More than one onlooker grabbed the nearest sharp object and carved ‘VS 06.27.21’ into their forehead to forever memorialize the occasion, and a statue is schedule to be erected sometime in the coming weeks. The remaining details of this game are obviously of little relative importance, but for the sake of record keeping, Steve Goncalo also scored for Silver, capping Captain Karns & Company’s first win of the season, 2-0 over Brown. Chuck Bender needed just seven saves to secure the shutout, while Nick Adkins’ (20/22) faced another healthy shot total at the other end in a loss in place of a traveling Don Tran. Gideon Schon, Ezra Cohen, Alan Razoky, and Nadia Saidi all recorded assists….blah, blah, blah. Brown shares Pink’s problem…scoring scarcity…just one goal in three games. It goes without saying that their lone goal was just a regular goal…nothing Santoran, by any means.

The ‘superstars on the schneid’ list shrunk a bit in the middle game, as both Steve Jones and Brian Sheptycki found twine for the first time. Sheptycki’s strike was way too little, and way too late for Red, coming with just ten ticks remaining. Green had built a 4-0 lead through two, with Captain Chad Goins’ first and second of the season coming on assists from slumbering super sniper, Steve Jones. Jones followed with his first of the season to break the game open, and Nadia Saidi scored in Kaity Gottfried’s stead to round out the scoring for the winning side. Red’s Chuck Russell faced an absolute barrage, and fought fiercely (26/30), but suffered his first career L in the 4-1 Green W. I am sure Captain Goins’ and his crew would prefer I continue to focus the front page on Navy and Black, but…Green now shares the top floor at 2-0-1, and should certainly be in the megateam musings to this point in the season.

It was JJ v JA, (with a side of JN) as Jet Javelet and Jeff Anderson took turns tallying in a 2-2 tie between White and Orange. Javelet put Orange on the board first in the first with his second of the season, and Anderson struck back solo and short handed with his first of the season in the second. Javelet’s third of the season and second of the game came on Joe Nguyen’s second primary assist of the game, and Orange held strong until the waning minutes, when Anderson snapped home his second of the season, and second of the game to give White their first tie and third point in the standings through two games over three weeks of league play. If you followed all of that, I applaud your first rate, second-to-none reading comprehension skills. Nick Vacchio (16/18) earned a point for Orange in the standings in Steve Deppensmith’s absence, while Cory Brin remained atop the goalie table for GAA (.942), and kept his team one of four undefeated teams with a 19/21 turn. Many preseason pundits had one or both of these teams as long odds lost causes, but both have proven to be tough and talented to this point. Week Four finds both of them squaring off against fellow bottom halfers, in matchups that should give us a truer trajectory of all teams involved.

The big Navy v Black showdown was, well…perfect. Both teams held a lead at some point, both teams proved they could touch the other team up a bit, and both teams came away with one point, zero losses, and all eyes on a post season rematch. Zach Salt kept his league-leading points pace purring with his fifth goal of the season early in the first, but Joe Malki responded just over a minute later, and Papa/Captain Chris Malki snatched back sole possession of the scoring lead with his sixth minutes later to give Black a 2-1 edge. Patrick Fusco spoiled the family affair theme, and Sean Kelly’s bid for third win, knotting the score at 2-2 on the power play with just over two minutes to play. Chris Tran (25/27) and Sean Kelly (20/22) were both sharp, and fared as well as two goalies could hope to fare against the league’s top two offenses. Both teams enter the Independence Day break at 2-0-1, both clearly primed to be playoff powers come September. It remains to be seen whether Green, or any other team in the table can trip either of these titans between now and then…

Pick & Lose

Week 2:

Captain Malki’s Black (2-0-0, 7 GF, 0 GA) and Captain Salt’s Navy (2-0-0, 10 GF, 2 GA) have been in cruise bruise control through two weeks of play. Both teams feature controversial player ‘packages’, that thus far appear to be parity poison. What happens when the two potent concoctions mix…find out this Sunday at 8:00pm!

Captain Chris Malki celebrated every period with a goal, and provided the primary assist on Mark Scelfo’s first of the season, leading his team to a 5-0 breezer over Brown. Justin Stege rounded out the scoring for Black, who remain undefeated, and un-scored-upon through the first two weeks of play. Alex Theis filled in flawlessly for Sean Kelly, stopping 10/10, while Don Tran fell prey to the Malki mayhem at the other end, dropping to 0-1-1 with a 22/27 line. Black will face the only other 2-0-0 side, Navy, in Week Three. The season is very young, but this matchup does have the makings of a Cup Final preview…

I’ve been waiting to type ‘Dick came up big’ for a while now, and Green’s Jason Dick has finally given me that opportunity…thank you, brother! Dick came up big for Green, breaking a scoreless tie in the second with the first goal of his SDFHL career. The 1-0 edge would hold until midway through the final frame, when Steve Goncalo struck back for Silver on the power play. This one looked to close out as a deadlock dandy, but super sub Julie Ott came up big (inspired by Dick) with the game-winning strike in the final minute of play to lift Green to a 2-1 win. It was another quiet night for superstar sniper, Steve Jones, whose assist on the Ott winner serves as his only point through the first two games. Nick Vacchio earned his first career win in nets, stopping 14/15, while Chuck Bender (15/17) dropped to 0-2-0 with another tough, one goal loss.

Yellow bounced back nicely from a 5-0 no lube Navy pounding in Week One to squeeze Orange 5-2. Harsh Wanigaratne was a man possessed, racking up assists on all three Yellow goals in the first (Josh Wirt/Jack Traughber/Philip Burke). Orange made a game of it from there, with Carl Vankoughnett immediately cashing in on a Burke Delay Of Game penalty late in the first, then cutting the lead to one in the second (both from Kris Tosczak). Yellow had the last laughs, with Mara Bernd’s first of the season, and Philip Burke’s second of the game putting the game out of reach for good in the third. Nick Adkins (20/22) evened his record in nets at 1-1-0, while Steve Deppensmith remained winless at the other end with a 15/20 effort.

Captain Salt’s Navy picked up where they left off in Week One, cruising to a 5-0 lead through two periods against a frantic and futile Teal team. Rob LaVigne got his team on the board in the first, scoring just the second non-Salt goal for Navy. The brothers got back to work in the second period with two goals apiece (Deborah Finucane collected her customary three assists, of course). A pair of late third period goals from Captain Mark DeGraffenreid provided a shred of pride for the long-defeated Teal side, yet was the proverbial ‘too little, too late’ in the 5-2 thrashing. Chris Tran suffered his first GA blemishes, but kept his win-loss record perfect with a 25/27 outing, while Nick Meglich was strong, but over-Salted in his first losing outing with Teal (21/26). Something has to give when Navy faces Black this Sunday…set your DVR for that one, folks!

The nightcap brought the Week Two slate back to parity town, following lopsided results in three of the first four games. It was the season opener for Captain Kevin Dinino’s White, and they found twine first late in the first, with Tim Helmbrecht converting (from Dinino, himself). Helmbrecht had a helper of his own on Chris Tran’s first of the season in the second, which would ultimately serve as decider in a 2-1 White win. Patrick Walker’s first career SDFHL goal (from Hima Joshi) on the heels of Tran’s tally did keep things interesting to the end, but Cory Brin (30/31) was the story in this one…a story with another sad ending for Pink. I’ll spare you the box score attendance check…Andrew Jacobsen was in the lineup again for the losing side. The living legend has now been held scoreless in back to back games. We have our league historians and statisticians working around the clock to find out if that has ever happened before…I sincerely doubt it has.

Great Shakes

Week 1:

The much anticipated/feared Salt brothers debut did not disappoint…unless you happen to be Yellow’s goalie, Nick Adkins. The dynamic duo combined for four and four to lead Navy to the only dominant Week One win. Add a dash of Deborah Finucane to the mix, and Navy is SO-DEUMN good (see what I did there).

Well, it was 462 days in the making, but the SDFHL finally got back to action on Sunday. The slate kicked off with Captain Gattey’s Red taking on Captain Karn’s Silver. Dan Jurgens proved his true draft value, scoring first and last for Red, and assisting on Steve Linke’s middle marker for good measure. Newcomer Jen Caringal chalked up primary assists on both Jurgens goals, and Sarah (‘AJ’) Higginbotham got into the assist column for Red, as well…the first point of their respective SDFHL careers. Nadia Saidi joined in the newbie reindeer games, notching her first career goal for Silver in the final tick of the second period. Alas, Nadia’s effort, and the late Andy Strathman tally were not enough to save Silver from an opening 3-2 loss. Yet another newcomer, goaltender Chuck Russell, shone brightly in his debut for Red, stopping 21/23 to record his first SDFHL career ‘W’. He outdueled Chuck ‘The Original Chuck’ Bender, who suffered the loss with a 7/10 line.

Black and Pink squared off next, with Captain Chris Malki leading the way for his squad with tallies in the first and second (assists to Joe Malki and Tom Darlington). That was twice the offense that Sean Kelly would need, as he posted a rather ho hum shutout to start the season (11/11), and account for the zero in Black’s 2-0 win. Jimm Reifnsyder’s return to SDFHL action was spoiled by Malki’s spoils, but he kept Pink in the game with a 20/22 effort, in spite of his side being outshot two to one. Andrew Jacobsen was held off the board entirely, which is a rare feat, indeed. He either has COVID rust to work off, or he just needs London Peters back in the line up to stir the pot in the attack zone.

It was a quiet first period in game three…too quiet. Nick Adkins and Chris Tran kept the balls at bay early, but the latter would face only a light peppering the rest of the way, while the former drown in Salt. Captain Jon and ‘little brother’ Zach took turns scoring goals, and assisting on said goals to the tune of four and four, while Deborah Finucane collected three assists, and Patrick Fusco rounded out the scoring in the 5-0 face smash. Tran’s 15/15 frustrated a Yellow lineup that was missing two of its key players (Josh Wirt and Shawna Hamon), while Adkins held as well as he could (21/26), but the Salts showed no mercy. Needless to say, the fact that J & Z touched one of the best goalies in the league up for four goals is a major warning shot to their next nine opponents. Who will be the first (if any) of the teams to shut these two down?

Jim LaGrossa and Kris Tosczak eached racked up one and one in the first, pacing Orange out to an early lead in what looked to be an easy win. Teal adjusted their lineup, kept their collective chin up, and retaliated midway through the second (Min-Soo Smith) and early in the third (newcomer, Tyler Lyne). Jet Javelet put Captain Wirth’s side back on top with Orange’s second powerplay goal of the evening, but Captain Mark DeGraffenreid shoveled home a rebound with just over a minute to play to knot the game for good, 3-3. It was another game, another rookie getting in the scoring books, as Sally Jackson earned her first and second career assists on Teal’s third period goals. Nick Meglich was very sharp, arguably stealing the game for Teal with a 25/28 outing in his much-awaited return. Steve Deppensmith was challenged much less, but registered the same result in the records books with a 10/13 effort.

In spite of the relatively low shot count, and the 1-1 final score, the Week One nightcap was a definite thriller. Don Tran (13/14) and Nick Vacchio (9/10) kept watch over two scoreless periods of play before rookie sensation, Kevin Wilkinson, finally broke through for Green on an unassisted wrap around early in the third. Captain Nagy himself evened the score for Brown a few minutes later, with assists from Jordan Pynn, and super sub, Dorothy Kline. Pynn was great, as always, but I am afraid his one assist is not going to keep him on the POTW podium that he has lived on for something like a year and a half. In other news, Steve Jones was held off the score sheet for the first time in…maybe ever. Both AJ and Jones…no points through Week One…brace yourself if you are facing either of these perennial terrors this Sunday!