Week Seven was definitely set up as a ‘crossroads’ slate, with three of the five games offering a struggling team a chance to leapfrog a team ahead of them in the standings…or fail to do so, and get set to fight it out in the trenches in the coming three weeks. Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue came in at 2-2-1, having been bounced around a bit over a very rare rough patch for ‘The Silencer’™, while Captain Geoff Downes’ White hoped to preserve the existing pattern of their season (L-W-L-W-L) and slip past their standing neighbors and into the relative safety of the mid pack. With both the aforementioned ‘Silencer’™ (Silas Perks) and ‘Da Kid’ (Sean Kelly) out of action, it would be up to Don Tran and Will Heinl (respectively) to keep the back of the nets ball free. Chris Tran broke the scoring seal at 8:07 in the first (Captain Gaudio), and a still-white-hot Vance Morra doubled the lead for Atomic Blue at 0:27 (Mostafa Azab & Captain Gaudio). It was the same pattern in the second (I mean…almost EXACTLY the same), with Tran’s second of the game coming at 6:02, then Morra’s second at 5:45 (again, from Azab and Gaudio) to build the lead to 4-0. Tony Thinh finally answered for White at 2:51 in the second (Jeannine Stuzka & Zach Siemer), but Tran would complete his hat trick at 1:39 to restore the four goal edge moving into the third. Zach Siemer chipped away at that edge with his first of the season at 8:03 (Tyler Winstead), and Carl Vankoughnett thickened the plot at 6:42 (Mark Scelfo), but that would be as close as White would come to a come back, as Don Tran (27/30) and Atomic Blue would hold on for the 5-3 win. So, in the first of three ‘crossroad’ matches, the team in a better position coming in bettered their position, while the would-be-leap frog will continue to croak along the cut line for at least another week.

While not quite a ‘crossroads’ clash, Captain Mark Nagy’s Red really needed to start making a move in the standings to shore up any measure of safety going into the final weeks of play. Standing in their way was Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey, a team with as many losses (one) as Red had wins coming in. With a sizzling Matt Henderson in nets for Grey, and the ever-steady Don Tran at the ready for Red, this was destined to be a tight, low-scoring affair. This was not a ‘must win’ for either side, but it was ‘must win adjacent’ for Red, and one or two more points would likely be good enough to (officially) punch a playoff ticket for Grey. A scoreless first seemed to confirm the ‘goalie duel’ billing, and the second period yielded just one conversion, Eli Schonbrun’s second of the season at 8:17 (Kevin Dinino) to give Red the first lead of the game. Will Heinl made good on a Red powerplay at 9:33 in the third (Jordan Kitterman & Captain Nagy) to put Red up by two, but Hima Joshi cut the lead back to one with 5:58 to play (Jon Zygelman & Justin Stege). It was the same trio in a different configuration on the next Red strike, with Kitterman restoring the two goal edge at 4:27…assists to Heinl and Nagy. Dan Soar closed the gap back to one with 2:01 remaining (Zygelman), but Tran (14/16) kept the goal gate closed the rest of the way to preserve a massive 3-2 win for Red. Henderson (14/17) was saddled with his first loss of the season, and now finds himself in a statistical dogfight with ‘Da Kid’ for the Fall League goalie throne. It’s safe to say that Grey is playoff safe in spite of the loss, and Red can now breathe easier going into a crucial matchup with Gold in Week Seven. A win in that game should push Red to playoff safety, while a loss will keep them in limbo with ‘The Blues’ (Atomic & Heather) lurking in their final two games.

If we’re going to keep with the ‘crossroads’ theme, the Week Seven middle game was a ‘street’ fight between one team on an eight lane super highway (Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue), and one on a dusty, rut-filled dirt road (Captain Joel Gattey’s Gold). Salt’s squad came in doing a cruise-controlled 80, with every other car in the league somewhere in the rearview mirror, and not a single ding or dent on their washed and waxed fenders. Gattey’s gang, while still on the road and driving to catch up, were bumping along on bald tires and a damn-near-shot transmission. With less shiny and speedy vehicles on their regular season road ahead (Red, Orange, and White), Gold knew that a loss to lossless Heather Blue would not break them down for good, but every mile counts, especially as we enter the home stretch. Alexis DaCosta took the air out of Gold’s tires right off the line, putting Heather Blue up 1-0 just 0:39 in (Captain Salt & Luke Wolmer), but Kyle Snyder quickly shifted Gold back to level at 6:00. The old Gold jalopy lurched into a lead at 2:36 in the second (Tim Vick from Janice Darlington), and as the clock dwindled in the third, it looked like Gattey’s clattery coupe might just pull off the coup of the season. Alas, Luke Wolmer rev’ed Blue back to even with 2:02 to play (Ty Pereira), and the teams would cross the finish line in a dead heat, 2-2. Patrick Theis (16/18) stunt drove for proud papa, Alex, in this one, while Eric Kroeker (17/19) remained unbeaten…but just barely, racking up his third tie in four games in his SDFHL career so far. The result keeps Gold gassed up for their final laps, but they will likely need wins in two of the remaining three games if they hope to drive on into November. Captain Salt’s squad are almost assuredly already a playoff lock (math is hard), but the lead pack remains very tight as we round into the final laps of regular season play.

If you make a habit of reading the headline, or even just the POTW blurb, you already know how ‘The Battle Of The Greens’™ turned out. Still, the people want their prose, and certainly want their props, so I will delve into the details for your reading enjoyment (I’m sticking with my understanding that any of you reading this actually enjoy it). This was the second ‘crossroads’ game of the evening, with Captain Zach Salt’s Lime sitting two points back of Captain Nick Meglich’s Green coming in. A win for Lime would draw them level in the standings with their darker-shaded rivals, but would (of course) also grant them the benefit of ye olde head-to-head tiebreaker…you never know when you’re going to need to break a tie in your favor. Speaking (well, typing) of such things, this one was an absolute thriller, and VERY nearly ended in a tie…until (fittingly) that tie was broken in the final minute of play. Josh Wirt put Green on the board late in the first period (Vinny Santora), despite Lime outshooting his team 11-3 in the frame. The lopsided shot totals continued in Lime’s favor in the second (13-6), but they finally started to see a return on that investment when Eric Willard popped his first of the game at 6:45 (Brian Baker & Captain Salt), then his second at 2:23 (Captain Salt & Pat Gladstone). Lime’s shiny new 2-1 lead lasted nearly a full ten minutes of game time until Rob LaVigne cashed in with 2:28 to play, surely saving the day and a point in the standings for Green…or not. It was Willard again with just 0:58 on the clock, snapping home his third of the game (Christopher Fiore & Dan Jurgens), his league-leading ELEVENTH of the season, and…oh, yeah…completing a HAT TRICK OF HAT TRICKS, PEOPLE! Yes, Willard has now posted a hat trick in three straight games! Note to remaining opponents…you should definitely cover this dude 🙂 So, yes, when you are outshot 32-14, you can rightly expect to lose, but coming within 58 ticks of a tie, only to get ‘Willarded’™…painful. Captain Meglich (29/32) was about as heroic as humanly possible (in the SDFHL sense, I mean…perspective) in the loss, while Jon Cima (12/14) had a much easier time, but held the line in the 3-2 win for Lime. As noted, the result draws these two teams level in the standings at 3-2-1, but as noted in the headline blurb, also sets up the potential for Captain Zach to slip past big bro, Captain Jon, in a ‘get your popcorn’ Week Eight showdown with first place (at least, in part) on the line…

Unless you are a window washer (which, if you are, I may need a quote from you), streaks aren’t always a bad thing. The late game turned our attention from the hottest team in the league (Lime…now riding a three game winning streak), to the coldest (Brown…sitting on a two game losing streak, coming into their Week Seven match with Orange). Keeping a winning streak going is probably at least as challenging as ending a losing streak, but the former is so much more fun and rewarding than latter. Captain Karns’ & Company set to their not-so-fun task with all of the focus and fervor required, but an early strike from Eric Enciso (9:16 in the first from Jackson Tomaszewski) quickly sucked much of the spunk out of the Brown bench (note to self…work on phrasing). Brown continued to press, and objectively had the better of the play and more quality chances through a scoreless second, but another early Enciso goal in the third (9:18 from Alan Razoky and Brennen Abel) brought Brown’s bubbling frustrations to full fruition. At this point in the game, Brown knew they would need at least two goals to wrest a point from Orange, in spite of having just ONE goal to show for their last eight periods of play. On cue, Kalen Hunter came through at 8:56 (Sadie Hellstrom & Captain Karns) to cut the lead in half, and give Brown some semblance of reward for their all-out effort. When Hunter struck again (unassisted) at 4:33, the light at the end of Brown’s losing tunnel shown blindingly bright…it really felt like this would not only be the turning point in this game, but the end of the losing streak, and possibly a turning point in the season. Nope…no, it would not. Enciso capped his hat trick with a wide open look at 1:27 (Tomaszewski & Steph Palomo Schmidt), snuffing that bright light, sealing up that tunnel, and leaving Brown entombed within to contemplate their three game losing streak in the cold, cramped dark space of a brutal 3-2 loss. Orange’s ‘crossroads’ win has them back at .500, sitting just a tack back of the lead pack going into the final three games. Amazingly enough, the three game slide has not pushed Brown below the cut line just yet, but with a tough slate ahead (Atomic Blue, Grey, and Lime), they will need everything they have (and maybe more) to fight their way out of October alive.

Last week’s cover team (for all the wrong reasons), Captain Joel Gattey’s ‘Goal-Schlägers’, had nothing to show for the first four games of their season, and nothing but the law of averages, a very good looking roster, and a growing sense of urgency upon which to build any hope (let alone confidence) for a second half redemption. Captain Ryan Karns’ ‘Bar Stool Samples’ came into Week Six having suffered their first loss of the season to Green the week prior, and hoped that a meeting with the only winless team in the league would set them back on the right path at the game five fulcrum. Tim Vick gave Gold just their second opening lead of the season, tucking home a rebound at 6:56 in the first (Matthew Ulloa & Kyle Snyder), and Kyle Snyder quickly reinforced that advantage with his first of the game at 5:19. It was another pair of Gold goals in the second, both courtesy of Snyder who made it 3-0 at 9:22, then completed his hat trick at 2:15 (Steve Pugliese & Ulloa) and capped the scoring in Gold’s 4-0 win over Brown. Don Tran (24/24) was very sharp in a fill-in role for Alex Theis, while Mason Holcomb (21/25) was tagged with his second career (and second straight) loss at the other end. The two game downturn for Brown is certainly troubling, especially when considering they have managed to score just one goal in that span. The hope is that the return of Kalen Hunter this Sunday will give them enough to sneak past a stout Orange side. The win is a big one for Gold, but they are far from out of the woods, especially given that the perimeter of said woods is patrolled by their Week Seven opponent, Captain Jon Salt’s undefeated Heather Blue brigade.

Tanqueray and Solo Cups…a frat party match made in heaven…just add juice. For Captain Mark Nagy’s ‘Do’lo Cups’, that ‘juice’ would take the form of a much-needed win. At 1-3-0 coming in, Red longed to shimmy up the basement stairs to join the real party, and solidify their playoff credibility with the cool kids. The ‘juice’ for Captain Nick Meglich’s ‘Tanqueray & TwoNicks’…just another winning splash to take the edge off the latter half of the season, and keep them in with the really cool kids at the real real party on the top floor. As it went, neither team made a successful juice run, and instead traded straight shots (of gin…*shudder*), puked on one another, then stumbled off to their respective couches to sleep it off. Jordan Kitterman did lose his SDFHL virginity at some point in the middle of the party to give Red reason to raise the roof, but Josh Wirt (Brandon Olsen) killed that buzz minutes later. CONGRATULATIONS, Jordan! To translate for those who hate not-so-thinly-nor-expertly-veiled nonsense, the game would end in a 1-1 tie, with neither team sent walk-of-shaming home, but neither impressing the rest of the throng with an epic naked back flip into the pool. Don Tran (19/20) kept his popularity popping with a second stellar showing (after posting a 24/24 shutout win as a sub the game prior), and Captain Meglich rivaled his rizz (I know…I will punch myself for that…my apologies) with a 20/21 showing. Red will need to pregame hard and be ready to crash Grey’s gala this Sunday, while Green hope to suck down some Lime Jell-O shots and continue their festive foray into the second half of the season.

This season’s installment of the ‘Citrus Squeeze’ had all of the juice that the previous game lacked, and then some. Orange’s early season struggles (1-3-0, coming in) could largely be explained and excused by attendance woes, and even the losses were sprinkled with plenty of peeks at the power that their potent-on-paper roster promised. Lime’s fancy Latin motto is ‘Attendus Atrocious Non Botherus’, and their 2-1-1 record coming in proved that they could hit sets without breaking sweats no matter how light their bench may be on a given Sunday. Lime boasted just ONE player with perfect attendance coming into Week Six, and while that one player (Eric Willard) did plenty of heavy lifting once again, he could not muscle another neon-clad skeleton crew through to a win in this one. Willard did strike first, wasting little time putting Lime in front at 8:57 in the first (Marc Lapointe), but Alan Razoky erased that edge with his second of the season later in the period. The middle stanza saw a six goal scoring bonanza, all kicked off by rookie William Teglia’s first career SDFHL goal. Congratulations, William! Chad Goins and Brennen Abel provided helpers on the milestone marker, and Eric Enciso celebrated the kid’s feat with one of his own less than a minute later to make it 3-1, Orange (Abel & Steve Linke). I want you all to make sure you are sitting down when you read this…Justin Ker was not only in the lineup, but accounted for Lime’s response at 6:29 (Captain Zach Salt & Emily Bennington)! Ker’s appearance shatters the hopes of those who took the under on the Vegas line of 1.5 appearances this season…sorry folks! If it makes you feel any better, I lost that bet, as well. If one is fun, twice is extra nice…it was Teglia again to restore Orange’s two goal edge (Razoky)…no fanfare this time, kid…now it’s just expected. Willard would post his second of the game just nineteen seconds after Teglia’s double dip (Ker & Salt), and Enciso’s second (Steph Palomo Schmidt) capped a crazy flurry of six strikes between the two teams in less than a four minute span. It was a calmer, gentler third, with Willard completing his hat trick with a solo effort to cut the lead back to one at 5:12, and Abel restoring the two goal edge and icing the 6-4 win for Orange with an empty-netter at 0:19 (Palomo Schmidt & Encisco). The result leaves both teams somewhere in the creamy middle of the standings, with Lime at 2-2-1 and Orange at 2-3-0. Call it a hunch, but I suspect both of these teams will find their way into the second season, and maybe even give the higher seeds a run for their money…

With all of the media hype and accolades that swirl around ‘The Silencer’™ and ‘Da Kid’™, there is not a lot of attention left to go around to the rest of the goalies in the league. As such, I certainly would not blame any of you for being ignorant of the fact the Matt Henderson is absolutely crushing it this season. Henderson has proven to be a fearsome force in flourishes throughout his career, but his first four games with Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey this season are on a new level. With ‘Da Aforementioned Kid’ out of the lineup for Captain Geoff Downes’ White, it would be up to super sub Eric Kroeker to outduel the GOTS (greatest of this season) and carry his temporary host team to a much-needed Week Six win. Jason Lee, one of maybe two or three players in the league who are quieter and less assuming than Grey’s goalie, gave his team the lead with his first of the season at 6:26 (Hima Joshi). That…that was all, folks…just the one ball past Kroeker (12/13), and another donut down for Henderson (15/15) to secure the 1-0 win for Grey, and improve his gaudy numbers on the season to 3-0-1/.971/0.50/2 SO. If you have the SDFHL streaming package, and you watch most (or all) of the games each season, you know that Captain Copp drafted Silas Perks last time around…he was absolutely bonkers, lights out amazing. Perks is now struggling, but Copp has ‘this season’s Silencer’ now…it’s uncanny! The win propels Grey to 3-1-1, just a point off pace-setting Heather Blue at the top of the table. Incidentally, Heather Blue holds that standings edge thanks in part to boat racing Grey in Week Four…the one week that Henderson missed, and the week that accounts for 6/8 goals against for Grey. Captain Downes’ and White will need to find the right kind of consistency this season if they hope to avoid being sucked into the cut line void. The pattern thus far has been L-W-L-W-L…if they get that next W this week against Atomic Blue, they will be back in the hunt, but they cannot afford a run of L’s, at this stage (that would be the bad kind of consistency).

Preseason ticket sales for ‘The Battle Of The Blues’ were through the roof, with the promise of a high-powered offense taking on ‘The Silencer’ in what many may have expected to be a potential Cup preview. The secondary market saw trickles, then floods of tickets over the past few weeks, however, with the recent profound and unprecedented struggles of Atomic Blue’s Silas Perks. Perks has perennially proven to be THE goalie to beat in this league, often carrying otherwise ‘serviceable’ teams to great heights, but back-to-back games with SIX goals allowed meant two straight loss for Captain Rob Gaudio’s gang, and (very) tempered expectations for a competitive clash with Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue. Don’t sell that Silencer stock just yet, fickle fans…because it looks like he’s back, and his Atomic Blue mates jumped on his ‘back’ back in this one. Captain Gaudio gave his team their first lead since Week Two with his seventh of the season at 3:51 in the first (Mostafa Azab & Scott Wieland), and Perks was perfect through the first…then the second to keep his team in line for a massive statement win going into the third. Heather Blue doesn’t do losing, though, and Captain Salt saved the day again with 5:44 to play (Ty Pereira), finally solving a reborn, resolute Silencer™ to knot the score at 1-1. That would be the only damage that either Perks (25/26) or Eric Kroeker (10/11) would allow, however, which thrilled fans who held on to their tickets for this one…a tight, tense 1-1 draw. Heather Blue remain the only lossless team in the league with the one point result, and the tie not only stops the bleeding for Atomic Blue, but (much more importantly) serves notice that their biggest weapon (ironically, a shield) is back in the mix.

Our cover team was due up first on the Week Five docket, hoping to slide past Lime and snap their early season three game slide in the process. Captain Zach Salt’s side had managed a 1-1-1 record coming in, in spite of some significant attendance woes, and with Dan Jurgens and…wait for it…Justin Ker (!) back in the lineup, Lime looked to leverage the simple luxury of plentiful personnel to secure a second straight win. Eric Willard broke the scoring seal for Lime at 2:40 in the first (Captain Salt & Dan Jurgens), but Gold quickly countered with the equalizer from Trevor Vick (Tim Vick & Captain Gattey), and Matthew Ulloa (John Gamm) with the go ahead goal to close the first with Gold in front, 2-1. When Papa (Tim) Vick made it 3-1 Gold early in the first (Joel Gattey & Janice Darlington), it looked like Gold may finally be on their way to a win. Willard posted his second of the contest on the powerplay with 2:34 to play in the second (Chris Fiore & Captain Salt), but Gold would enter the third with the lead…only to lose it 0:26 later. Captain Salt cashed in at 9:34 (Fiore), and even the tepid ‘triumph’ of a tie was torn away with Willard’s hat trick capping game-winner with 1:58 to play (Salt). So, another tough loss for Captain Gattey’s gang, this time a 4-3 come-from-ahead loss to Lime. Will Heinl (14/17) secured the win in a rare surrogate shot stopper stint, while Alex Theis (22/26) drops to 0-3-0 in his return to the league that continues to be a hall of horrors for the only winless team in the league.

Captain Mark Nagy’s Red and Captain Geoff Downe’s White followed the same L-W-L path to 1-2-0 records, making them tense neighbors in the lower rungs of the standings coming into Week Five play. A rare instance of perfect attendance for both teams was spoiled only by the absence of White’s Mark Scelfo, so this match would be not only an opportunity to even their season record, but also a genuine measuring stick/indicator of the likely fate of their respective campaigns. With Silas Perks mucking through by far the worst season of his career, it is safe to say that the ‘Old Sheriff’ is back in town in the personage of Sean Kelly. Red’s seven total goals to date was a concern with Kelly keeping White’s crease, and that concern turned to consequence in this one, as Red’s goal total would remain idle in the face of a sparkling 23/23 shutout performance for ‘Da Kid’. White was right to be concerned about scoring, as well, having amassed just FIVE goals over their first three games (the lowest in the league), but that concern was rendered cosmetic after a five goal outburst doubled their season output. Three of those five goals belonged to Carl Vankoughnett, who opened the scoring at 7:04 in the first (Wendy Enright), tacked on a second at 8:30 in the second (Tony Thinh), and capped the hat trick at 5:40 in the third (Thinh). Tyler Winstead’s second of the season came less than a minute after Vankoughnett’s first (Sean Bathgate), and Captain Downes’ solo effort came less than a minute after Vankoughnett’s second in the second. Don Tran (25/30) did as much as he could to keep Red in this one, but you can’t win if you can’t score. The 5-0 win for White evens their record at 2-2-0, and provides them some much needed trust in their ability to produce offense, while the loss leaves Red in a panic-adjacent state at 1-3-0, still looking up from below the playoff cut line.

Two solid wins and a miracle tie had Captain Ryan Karn’s Brown believing that their early season roll was just a sign of things to come. Captain Nick Meglich’s Green had a fair claim to confidence themselves, having staked themselves to a 2-1-0 record in three close, low-scoring games coming in, and were likely feeling very capable of handing Brown their first loss of the season. Brandon Olsen put Green on the path to doing just that at 5:16 in the first, cashing in his first of the season, and Josh Wirt doubled the lead at 2:20 (Nick Vacchio). Brown would right the ship a bit with just 0:21 to go in the first frame, with Kalen Hunter completing a tic-tac-toe combination from Sadie Hellstrom and Mark DeGraffenreid. That would be all the ship-righting Brown would have in them, though, and a second period strike from Maureen Ruchhoeft (Vacchio & Andrew Wong), and a third period tally from Rob LaVigne (Wirt & Vacchio) meant that Green would cruise to a 4-1 win. Captain Meglich (19/20) was the busier of the netminders, but continued to lead his team from the back with another stellar stint. Mason Holcomb (9/13) suffered his first career SDFHL loss at the other end…also (of course) the first loss of the season for Brown, who now find themselves in the upper middle class of the standings at 2-1-1.

The SDFHL world was still spinning off its axis after watching Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks surrender six in a Week Four match with Orange, but even the all-time greats have off nights, and with Perks (literally) blowing out the candles on his birthday cake moments before flipping the mask down to face Grey, the expectation was that that proper axis would be restored, and that his (presumed) birthday wish would be granted. As cruel fate would have it, though, brother Owen kept things noisy for Silas throughout in this one. ‘The other Perks’ had the lone goal of the first to give Grey the early lead, but he was far from done with just one, providing the first assist on Dan Soar’s early second period strike (second assist to Pat Gladstone) before Vance Morra became the first responder for Atomic Blue at the five minute mark (Mostafa Azab & Captain Rob Gaudio). Jon Zygelman restored Grey’s two goal edge later in the second (Hima Joshi), then poured in two more early in the third to complete his hat trick and snatch POTW honors. Justin Stege had the lone assist on Zygelman’s second, and…yes, Owen Perks had the lone assist on the third…before scoring his second of the night (Soar) to cap a 2 and 2 effort that saw his suddenly beleaguered brother holding another warm, flat six pack! The Silencer’s struggles are THE story of this season, so far, but let not the (surely) fleeting negative narrative detract from another heroic season for Matt Henderson. Henderson (11/12) has been outstanding to this point, with this 6-1 win moving his personal record to 3-0-1 on the season, and the rest of his stats putting him on the tip top of the goalie stack. By shocking contrast, Perks (16/22) is rock bottom on that list. As I noted, I have every confidence that ‘The Silencer’™ will find his form in due time, but back to back six goal smacks is a troubling trend, and Captain Gaudio & Company will need more as the push to the playoffs heats up in earnest.

Orange’s offense came into their own in Week Four…the aforementioned Silencer Smack Down™ that saw rookie Eric Enciso flexing his foreshadowed fabulousness to the tune of 3 and 2, and Brennen Abel riding shotgun with 2 and 2. With those two weapons, and indeed the full arsenal suited and booted, Captain Janet Goins’ gang looked to keep the positive momentum and improve to .500 against the only remaining undefeated team in the league, Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue. It took just 0:51 to take some of the swagger out of Orange’s sails, with a Captain Salt solo strike putting his team in front bright and early. Joe Nguyen would make it 2-0 later in the first (Alexis DaCosta & Julie Ott), and Captain Salt’s second of the game even brighter and earlier in the second (DaCosta) had the lossless favorites comfortably in front going into the final third. Eric Kroeker (22/23) very nearly nabbed his first career SDFHL shutout, but a late blemish in the form of Alan Razoky’s second of the season (Abel) spoiled the flawless fun, and added the daintiest of dashes of drama to the final minutes of play. Kroeker & Company would hold on for the 3-1 win, preserving the nice round number in Heather Blue’s middle column, and keeping them safely in the standings attic at 3-0-1. Chuck Bender (17/20) suffered the loss for Orange who, in spite of boasting one of the most impressive rosters in the league (on paper), now find themselves at 1-3-0, still cuddled up to the cut line as we hit the midway point of the season.

Captain Mark Nagy flat out willed Red to a Week Two win over a dis-Abeled Orange side, evening their early season mark at 1-1-0, and giving them some much needed momentum coming into a Week Four matchup with a so-far-so-limp Lime side. To absolutely no one’s surprise, Lime’s slow start has largely been the result of attendance issues (particularly in the form of zero appearances to date from Justin ‘AWOL’ Ker), and were genuinely fortunate to have even a point in the standings with just two goals-for in two games. With Ker once again out of the lineup in Week Four (*GASP*), and with Dan Jurgens, Emily Bennington, and Shelby Shattuck also elsewhere, it would be up to Captain Zach Salt, two female super subs, and the rest of the citrus crew to find a way to a first win. Red had their own significant scratch in this match, and it’s never easy to make up for the absence of Jordan Pynn. Captain Nagy picked up where his Week Two hat trick left off, though, opening the scoring at 4:25 in the first (Dorothy Kline), and would stay hot with a solo effort at 1:11, but (alas, poor Red) Captain Salt and Lime finally found their scoring zest in that opening frame. A blistering point snipe from Christopher Fiore (Eric Willard & Captain Salt) at 3:22, Salt’s first of the season (!) at 3:10 (Sadie Hellstrom & Brian Baker), and a second Salt strike at 0:11 (a super pretty tic-tac-toe from Willard & Troy Ohlsson) wrapped a frenzied first period with Lime on top, 3-2. Will Heinl’s first action of the season produced his first goal (Mark Daquipa & Eli Schonbrun), with the only conversion of the second period knotting the ledger at three apiece. The third period belonged to Lime, with Captain Salt completing his hat trick on the powerplay at 9:52 (Hellstrom & Fiore), adding some insurance with his fourth of the game at 7:53 (Enright), then assisting on a Willard strike to all but completely erase Red’s hopes of a late comeback and seal Lime’s first win of the season, 6-3. Jon Cima (10/13) did enough to preserve the victory at his end, while twice-as-busy Don Tran (20/26) had his birthday weekend spoiled by a jumping, juicy Lime side that managed to quadruple their scoring output to date in spite of the absence of two top picks.

When you pull off the greatest comeback in league history (three goals in 64 seconds, starting with 80 seconds to play, down 0-3), you really want to keep that mojo rolling the very next week. Unfortunately for Captain Ryan Karns’ & Company’ Brown, the very next week was roughly 9,000,000 degrees in the shade, so the mojo would have to cool over two full weeks of downtime before heating back up against Captain Geoff Downes’ 1-1-0 White side. The Week Four weather was damn near perfect (cool, overcast, breezy…beautiful), so not only was there no heat factor, but the dreaded ‘sunny side’ was largely negated, as well. Neither team showed much real punch in a scoreless first period, though White held a slim shot advantage (5-3) and had the better of the play. Brown stepped up their game in the second, but it looked like another pair of zeroes were in the making until Sadie Hellstrom went bananas, chipping and recovering the ball along the near boards, then steering in to finish a ridiculous effort with a flourish past Sean Kelly to put Brown on the board first (Arnold Gonzales & Andy Strathman). The Brown bench was still buzzing about the Hellstrom gem as the third period got underway, and Mark DeGraffenreid kept the pump pulsing at 8:27, wristing home a clean Kalen Hunter draw to double Brown’s advantage. Rookie netminder, Mason Holcomb (13/14), looked to be on his way to his second shutout in his first three career games, but a whacky, deflected, seeing eye Tyler Winstead ball bounded in behind him to spoil the clean sheet and add late tension to this one with 2:15 remaining. White pushed, and persisted with Kelly (13/15) pulled, but a Hunter empty-netter would seal the 3-1 win for Brown, and keep them in the very exclusive undefeated company of Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue (the team against whom the aforementioned miracle coup was staged in Week Two).

Gold entered Week Four play as one of only two teams without a point, having lost in a salty 7-4 Week One slugfest to Atomic Blue, then falling in quite the opposite style, with Pat Gladstone’s lone goal sinking them 1-0 to drop them to 0-2-0. While it is way too early to hit the panic button for Captain Gattey’s gang, especially with a stout roster and a strong goalie, you definitely want to see some ROI in the first third of a season, or risk that slow start coming back to haunt you later. Captain Nick Meglich’s Green took advantage of an Abel/Enciso/Tomaszewski-less Orange in a 1-0 Week One win, then fell to White 3-0 in Week Two. They hoped to perpetuate Gold’s grief and climb to a bit more cutline safety in the process in Week Four…and (*spoiler alert*) they would succeed on both counts. A scoreless first came and went, but Green had already established some measure of dominance, outshooting Gold 8-2. The second period saw more of that dominance from Green, and this time the lopsided shot ledger (10-3) came with a side of scoring. Josh Wirt put Green on the board first with a solo strike at 5:50, but John Gamm made one of Gold’s three retaliation attempts count, equalizing with his own unassisted strike at 4:30. Wirt did not waste much time putting Green back in front with 3:02 to play in the second (Wendy Enright & Andrew Wong), and he capped the hat trick at 6:40 in the third (Rob LaVigne) to round out the scoring, and douse any hopes for a Gold lining in this one. Captain Meglich (10/11) secured the win for his team, and kept himself in the upper reaches of the goalie stat ladder in the process, while Alex Theis (20/23) suffered his second loss in as many tries in this much-anticipated resurfacing, with Gold dropping to 0-3-0 with this 3-1 loss to Green. Again…’it’s early’, but Captain Gattey and Gold will want to at least have their finger resting on the panic button as they enter a Week Five fight with 1-1-1 Lime. It will likely take at least seven or eight points to make the playoffs in this ten team season, and every loss from here out adds ‘must win’ weight to the remaining games…

Two games this season have seen a combined ten or more goals scored, and both of those games have featured Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue. This stands to reason, if you take a quick glance at the standings and note their league-leading fourteen goals-for and eleven goals-against (tied for second most). So…it seems you’re likely in for a high-scoring shootout when you face Atomic Blue, which is shocking, to say the least, considering that the league’s most dominant goalie in recent years (Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks) is patrolling the pipes. Captain Janet Goins’ Orange was anything but a high-scoring side coming into Week Four, having struggled in the absence of some of their biggest guns to the tune of ONE goal in their two losses to date. Would the absence of any absences this time out prove to be the key to a tide-turning win for a winless Orange against a lossless Atomic Blue, or would Goins’ & Company find themselves squeezed once again? The answer to that query came quickly, with Brennen Abel’s season debut proving fruitful just 0:17 into play (from Eric Enciso). This new dynamic duo connected again less than a minute later, with Enciso doing to scoring honors, and Abel providing the assist. Captain Rob Gaudio kept his league-leading scoring streak sizzling at 6:01 (from the only-slightly-less-scorching Vance Morra), but Abel rebuilt the two goal edge for Orange with his second of the period at 0:45 (Jackson Tomaszewski & Enciso). This is probably a good time to remind you, gentle reader, that this is Silas F Perks in nets for Atomic Blue–you can count on one hand the number of times he has allowed more than two goals in an entire game, and Orange had three in the first period! Well, settle in, because they scored two more in the second, both off the blade of Enciso…the first a solo effort, and the second on a feed from Alan Razoky. Gaudio sandwiched his second of the game between the two Orange tallies, but it was clear this was destined to be another offensive slug fest, and the underdogs found themselves flossing into the final period of play with a 5-2 lead. Morra cut the lead to 5-3 on the powerplay at 7:14 in the third (from Captain Gaudio and super sub, Julie Ott), but Tomaszewski would restore the three goal edge exactly a minute later (Abel & Razoky). Yes…SIX goals past Perks…surely a sign of the apocalypse, people! Gaudio would match Enciso’s hat trick with 4:52 to play (Ott & Scott Wieland), but Chuck Bender (15/19) and Orange would hold on for their first win, an intense and inspired 6-4 stunner over previously unbeaten Atomic Blue. Eric Enciso captured POTW honors with his dazzling 3 and 2 outing, and drew an impressive comparison from one long-time SDFHLer…’the reincarnation of Chris Esposito’. Whether or not that comparison holds up to a season, let alone seasons of play or not, it is clear that Orange is a major force to be reckoned with when all of their pieces are in place. Any team that can put half a dozen past Perks (27/33) has my attention, and they should have the attention of any and all future opponents, as well.

I’ve mentioned this in recaps past, but there has been some manner of mystique surrounding Captain Copp’s creations over the last few seasons. It was easy to chalk the consistent success of last season up to a beast mode Perks and a solid supporting cast, but somehow managing a 1-0-1 record to start the season while scoring just TWO goals with ZERO Silencer™ in the lineup…that’s some kind of wizardry. Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue also arrived at Week Four without a loss, but had done so with a bit more convention, dispatching White 2-1 in Week One, then backing into a 3-3 tie with Brown in Week Two (OK…that was definitely not conventional). So, our Week Four nightcap was loosely billed as a matchup of two teams that had somehow avoided losing, and also never shown much of a glimmer of dominance. The former tag would change for Grey in this one, while the latter would change for Heather Blue. The Blue crew generated nearly twice Grey’s shot in the first period (9-5), but the score remained even after a Captain Salt conversion at 3:25 (from Luke Wolmer & Joe Nguyen) was matched less than a minute later by Dan Soar’s first of the season (from Silas Perks). It was Perks first career point as a non-goalie, and his last chance to accomplish that feat prior to his brother’s return to the lineup (and, thereby, his exit from the lineup) this Sunday. The nice, quiet, expected first period shifted to a second and third period dominated by Heather Blue. Alexis DaCosta’s first appearance of the season (huzzah!) saw his first goal at 9:48 (Wolmer & Ty Pereira), and his first assist on Salt’s second of the game at 4:24. The 3-1 lead would balloon to 4-1 early in the third (Wolmer from Salt), then 5-1 (DaCosta from Wolmer), then 6-1 (DaCosta from TK Mason). If you’re scoring at home, that is a 3 and 1 night for DaCosta, a 2 and 1 night for Captain Salt, and a 1 and 3 night for Wolmer, as those three swept the stars of the game honors and propelled Heather Blue to their first convincing win of the season, a 6-1 romp over Grey. Neither Grey’s Matt Henderson, nor Heather Blue’s Eric Kroeker were suited up in this one, meaning that Chuck Bender (19/25) absorbed Grey’s first loss, while Nick Meglich (12/13) held the lossless line for Heather Blue. Silas can savor his lone career point as a player for a few days more before taking on his former mates (and his returning kin, Owen) in nets for Atomic Blue this Sunday, while Heather Blue will look to remain one of only two undefeated teams in an intriguing showdown with suddenly score-happy Orange.

While the ‘winless’ label completely loses any impact after just one week of play, teams still hope to find a way to win early in a new season, and two ‘winless’ teams kicked off the Week Two slate with that goal in mind. Captain Mark Nagy’s Red suffered greatly from the near complete absence of their defensive core in a lopsided loss to Brown in their debut (5-0). Captain Janet Goins’ Orange was also missing key players in their first game, including their brightest star (and one of the brightest in the league), Brennen Abel, but still nearly managed to survive a tangle with Green, falling just short of securing a point in the standings in a tight 1-0 tussle. It was clear from the outset in this one that Captain Nagy was NOT OK with his team’s offensive anemia in Week One. The veteran leader posted a solo strike at 8:25, Red’s first of the season, giving his team (of course) their first lead of the season. Newcomer, Eli Schonbrun, doubled that lead with another lone wolf effort at 4:44 in the second…his first career SDFHL goal! CONGRATULATIONS, ELI! It was more Nagy in the third, with ANOTHER unassisted, early-period goal giving Red a 3-0 cushion…which another newcomer, Orange’s Eric Enciso, eroded to 3-1 with HIS first career SDFHL goal (from Alan Razoky). CONGRATULATIONS, ERIC! Alas for Orange, the milestone goal would stand alone (as their only goal in this game…and only goal so far this season), and Nagy would restore the three goal edge, complete his hat trick, and ice a 4-1 win for Red with an empty netter in the final minute of play (Jordan Pynn). Don Tran (16/17) collected his first win of the new campaign, while Chuck Bender (18/21) followed a stellar Week One outing with a solid second effort…albeit, another losing one. It is perhaps the biggest understatement of all time to suggest that Orange will be VERY happy to be Abel-bodied again in Week Three. A half-goal-a-game pace is enough to keep any team ‘winless’ for a long time…

Captain Nick Meglich’s ‘Tanqueray & TwoNicks’ looked to repeat their Week One winning feat and remain ‘undefeated’ (another flimsy early season term) in their second foray of the fall against Captain Geoff Downes’ White. As noted in the previous recap, Green didn’t exactly dominate a downgraded Orange side in their opening week win, and were it not for their captain’s spotless sheet, would have found themselves in the same ‘winless’ world as White, coming in. A scoreless first saw Green holding a 7-4 edge in shots, but White shifted that edge in their favor in the second, holding Green to just one, while Carl Vankoughnett’s late period tally (Mark Scelfo & Wendy Enright) accounted for one of seven shots the other way. Jeannine Stuzka converted on a power play (Captain Downes & Vankoughnett) to double White’s lead at 3:58 in the third, and a Tony Thinh empty netter with 0:16 to play made sure there would be no late game comeback heroics in this one. Don Tran (12/12) continued his great night, picking up the 3-0 shutout win for White in Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly’s stead, while Captain Meglich (15/17) absorbed a tough loss to even his (and his team’s) season record at 1-1-0. Wins and losses aren’t always down to a formula of goal scoring and goal tending stats and trends, and it is very early in the season, but where Orange has the excuse of missing the likes of Enciso (for one game) and Abel (for two), Green has had their full complement of top tier players out there thus far…and they have ONE goal to show for sixty minutes of play. Meglich is certainly ‘Megical’™, but he cannot score goals himself, and he will really need his team to turn up on the offense from here out.

Gold and Grey had very different experiences in their Week One outings–Captain Joel Gattey’s Gold came out on the losing end of a heated, high-scoring dog fight with Atomic Blue, while Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey plodded through the most pedestrian of low-scoring ties with Lime. While Grey benefitted from a full bench in their one point result, Gold had a fair excuse in ‘key absences’ for their opening L, and expected a better return in Week Two with the return of ‘The Vick Boys’™, and the very-much-anticipating return of goalie god, Alex Theis. The only ‘key absence’ in this Gold go-around was ‘scoring punch’. In fact, neither team could find ‘the touch’ through two, with Theis a perfect 10/10 in his first action in roughly two calendar years, and Matt Henderson stopping 6/6 the other way. The scorelessness would cease at 7:02 in the third, though, with Pat Gladstone flexing her dynamic skills to tickle twine past Theis and push Grey to a 1-0 edge (Jon Zygelman). That was all, folks…one goal to rule them all, with Henderson (14/14) holding on to preserve the shutout and seal the 1-0 win for Grey over an eerily ineffective Gold side. Theis (16/17) was very good in his not-quite-triumphant return, but much like Meglich…you cannot win if your team does not score. There just seems to be something about Captain Copp’s teams…they find a way to win. Grey now has TWO goals in two games, and yet they are 1-0-1. This reporter can no longer hang his hat on the substantial rack that is ‘well, they have The Silencer™ in nets’ as the reason for yet another strong season…there is just some kind of mojo in those ranks. Copp & Company will look to keep that mojo flowing in a Week Three throwdown with one of only two teams with fewer goals-for this season (Orange), while Gold will look to snap out of an early season funk and push themselves back into the playoff fray in a meeting with White.

If any future opponent of Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue needs something to keep them up at night (we could all use less sleep, after all), here it is…Atomic Blue leads the league out of the gate with ten goals scored in two games…and their goalie is f’ing Silas Perks! While ‘The Silencer’™ did get ‘touched up’ in his first outing of the season, surrendering four goals, and posting a save percentage of just .714, he still earned the W…and getting ‘touched up’ has likely only served to refocus the man. It was some relief to Lime to learn that Perks would be out of the lineup for this match, but without the services of Captain Zach Salt, Chris Fiore, Marc Lapointe, Jon Cima, and *GASP* Justin Ker (!), they knew they would need something more along the lines of divine intervention to survive this segunda semana skirmish. Somebody get the 4S Ranch Fire Department on standby for Sunday afternoons, because Vance Morra is a major wildfire risk. After a 3 and 1 POTW performance in Atomic Blue’s Week Won win, Morra went back for more-a the same in Week Two. His late first period tally (Mostafa Azab & Captain Gaudio) gave the favorites the first leg up, but Lime kept pushing, in spite of the short bench and a very lopsided shot count (13-2 in Atomic Blue’s favor through one). The pushback proved profitable, with Eric Willard cashing in with a blistering snap off a Dan Jurgen’s draw, past Eric Kroeker to even the score at one apiece. Kroeker may not (yet, anyway) be mentioned in the same breath as ‘The Silencer’™, but that would be all the ‘noise’ he would allow from Lime, while Blue went on to finish strong and wrap a second win with two goals in the third. The first of those two belonged to, who else…Morra (Captain Gaudio & Azab), and the cake icing came courtesy of Captain Gaudio himself (Shawna Hamon & Azab). So…no Silas, no problem, as Kroeker (12/13) filled in fabulously against a depleted, but determine Lime side, securing the 3-1 win, and keeping Atomic Blue parked at the top of the standings as the only ‘perfect’ team through two weeks of play. Captain Salt has been living it up in Europe, but should return to face his old BLF (best linemate forever), Mark DeGraffenreid, and Brown in a post-holiday Week Three match.

I (usually) do my very best to avoid over indulging in hyperbole, but if you read the headline blurb, you already know what is coming in this recap. If you skipped the headline, or need a refresher, this paragraph will serve as a permanent (?) accounting of THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN SDFHL HISTORY…BAR NONE. Before there can be a ‘comeback’, there has to be a…come (?), and that part of the story belonged to Captain Jon Salt and his Heather Blue crew. If you’re new to the league (or not at all observant…or both), Jon Salt has the most feared shot in the league…so much so, that opponents will do everything they can to throw bodies in front of him from any range, any angle, anywhere…any time…he’s always a snipe threat. Brown had managed this default defensive strategy fairly well over the course of the first period, keeping Salt’s curvy, corner-finding cruise missile from being unleashed unchallenged, but a clean draw win for Luke Wolmer led to an open look for Salt, and he snapped the first goal of the game past rookie netminder, Mason Holcomb. An odd/fluky second goal bounced in past Holcomb early in the second to make it 2-0 Blue (Ralph Feuer from Ty Pereira and TK Mason), and a second Salt strike (from Wolmer and Craig Russell) less than a minute later had Brown players’ heads hanging and hands wringing. Kalen Hunter arrived at the rink at around this time, and (as expected) his presence made a drastic difference in the course of the remaining sixteen minutes of play. Still, in spite of the shot edge flipping from 7-1 in Blue’s favor through one period of play to 21-6 in Brown’s favor the rest of the way, the remainder of the middle period, and almost all of the third saw nothing but fruitless frustration for Captain Ryan Karns’ squad. That’s when the history happened. With roughly 90 seconds remaining, and a draw in Blue’s end, Brown pulled their goalie, and set up to salvage a peck of pride and a smidge of swagger with a late conversion. BAM…Sadie Hellstrom finishes a feed from Hunter to do just that at 1:20…lineup at center…Brown possession…Holcomb back to the bench for the extra attacker…BAM…Andy Strathman seeing eye snap from the point at 0:39 (once again, from Hunter). Now the buzz is really on, but what are the odds of Brown actually scoring a thir…BOOM…Captain Karns tucks home the third Brown goal in a 64 second span (from Strathman and Hunter) to bring Brown all the way back from 0-3 down to tie this one for good at 3-3! I mean…you could not have scripted a more insane, more inspired finish for Karns & Company. Or, rather, you could have, but viewers would deem it ‘totally unrealistic’. Holcomb (10/13) got his steps in running to the bench repeatedly in the final minutes of play, and also kept his early career record lossless at 1-0-1. Eric Kroeker (19/22) and Heather Blue suffered what really has to feel like a loss after the late surge, but now also share a lossless line (1-0-1) with Brown, Grey, and Atomic Blue.