Nick Of Time

Week 7:

Nick Adkins’ time as a vital member of our SDFHL league/community wound to an end in Week Seven. After securing a shutout win for front-running Yellow, Adkins helped will his ‘other team’ to a do-or-die win over Black. Time was certainly running out for Teal, who remain alive and hopeful after the inspired victory, in spite of the long odds…

Nick Adkins has always been one of the best goalies in our league, and this season was a final exhibition of that prowess. His 17/17 shutout shutdown of Silver in Week Seven wraps his stellar swan song in nets with 6-1-0/.903/1.86/3. He is certainly a major reason for Yellow’s tear to the top this season, and was easily the first star in their 2-0 win over Silver. Chuck Bender (16/18) was no slouch at the other end, as the teams battled through two scoreless frames before Bill Casey finally broke through on the powerplay early in the third. Josh Wirt converted a Shawna Hamon helper just fourteen seconds later, and that was more than enough for Captain Pereira’s side…especially with Adkins behind them. The win keeps Yellow on top of the pile with three games left in their schedule. Silver remain on shaky ground with the loss, still below the cut line, and battling for post season passage with a handful of other teams.

Adkins suited down to join FIVE other teammates in a battle for their playoff lives against Black. Coming in at 0-4-1, a loss would have effectively eliminated Teal. Captain DeGraffenreid & Company needed this win to stay alive in the playoff hunt, but they wanted a win for Nick at least as much. Fresh recruit (but old, familiar face), Steve Scott, got Teal off to the right start with his first late in the first, but Joe Malki brought things level in the second. Sadie Hellstrom’s second week of ironwoman effort bore a second goal in the third, her third of the season. It was fated fruit for the fearless forward, as it would stand as the decider in an improbable, desperately needed 3-1 win for Teal. Jon ‘JZ’ Zygelman allowed Teal to exhale, depositing an empty-netter off the post and in, and Nick Meglich (18/19) was finally rewarded for his stellar pipe work with a notch in the left-most column. Teal remain in must-win mode against Red this Sunday, while Black look for a rebound result in a middle of the pack showdown with Orange.

Captain Copp’s Pink underperformed their way into the ‘must-win’ camp as well, and finding Green due up on the schedule could not have been a pleasant prospect. Still, one of the main problems for Pink has been the absence of key players, and one the keyest of key players for any roster he has graced is the speedy/dynamic London Peters. Week Seven marked just the second appearance for Peters, and he would not make his presence known until late in the second in this one. Bob Marsolini, Hima Joshi, and Chris Tullio carried the scoring torch for Pink in a wild and loose first that also featured Green counterstrikes from Captain Chad Goins and suddenly stirring super sniper, Steve Jones. Patrick Walker and Mostafa Azab traded goals in the second to bring the tally to 4-3, Pink, and that pesky Peters potted the game-winner on the power player to close out the scoring through two. Jones’ second of the night came on the powerplay early in the third, but Nick Megich (16/20) would hold on to preserve the lead and the 5-4 win for his surrogate team. The win was crucial for Pink, who remain below the cut line at 2-5-0 with their bye week still to come. A win against Brown would do wonders for their playoff outlook, while a loss may spell certain doom. Green have been inconsistent and enigmatic this season, for sure, but they remain on the right side of .500, and well entrenched in the playoff picture at 3-2-1.

At risk of reading like a broken record, Brown came into play against Orange in Week Seven with a ‘must win’ mindset. With their bye week still looming, a loss would keep them cozy with the cutline, and running out of time to scramble to safety. Fortunately for Captain Mark Nagy, Brown has a really good player on the roster…Captain Mark Nagy. Nagy continued his sparkling season with another two goal effort, scoring less than a minute in, and again with just over three minutes to play to pace his team to a massive 4-3 win. Jordan Pynn and Matt Rogers provided the meat to Nagy’s winning bread slices, while Kris Tosczak collected primary assists on all three Orange goals (Wieland, Vankoughnett, LaGrossa) in the losing effort. Neither team is out of the woods yet, but Brown now carries some confidence and some key tie breakers into their final three games. Orange will look to slip past Black (and slide past them in the standings, as well) in Week Eight. Brown will look for some insurance (and another tie breaker for their bat belt) in the always-anticipated Stink v Pink bowl.

I’ll stop short of suggested that either side in the Red v White nightcap NEEDED to win, but honestly…all but two teams need all the points in the standings they can scavenge, at this point. Jeff Anderson elected for ‘snatch’ over ‘scavenge’, scorching Red for a first period hat trick to set a winning tone for White. Brian Sheptycki mixed in a response for Red, but Gary Peters restored the three goal lead with his second of the season late in the frame. Sheptycki added a second after a scoreless second, but that would be the extent of the pushback for Red in the 4-2 loss. Cory Brin (23/25) continued his strong campaign, battling injury as much as opposition to even his personal record at 2-2-1. With a winning record and their bye week behind them, White can breathe a bit more easily moving into the final weeks of play. They can spoil Silver’s season with a win on Sunday, and all but assure themselves of a playoff spot in the process. Red will look to their showdown with a retooled Teal this weekend as…you guessed it…a must win.

Halves & Halve Nots

Week 6:

With all teams now having played at least half of their season slate, it’s a good time to drink in the current standings. Yellow’s overflowing glass has them very optimistic for a deep playoff run, while Teal’s Week One drop has evaporated, leaving them parched pessimists. Everyone else is thirsty…looking to fill up enough to see that second glass come out in September…

Orange continued their climb out of the basement, notching their second straight win to even their record at 2-2-2 (the proverbial half full/half empty). Their 4-2 downing of Pink was decided in the first period, as a trio of Orange offensive strikes landed to give them a lush lead. Emily Bennington opened the scoring with her first of the season, with Kris Tosczak following just over a minute later, and Joe Nguyen netting the game-winner less than a minute after that. Chris Tullio’s first of the season got Pink on the board in the second, but Nguyen struck again early in the third (this time short-handed), putting things out of reach for good (in spite of a late Tullio encore). Carl Vankoughnett provided the primary on Orange’s first two goal, and Steve Deppensmith earned his first win of the season with a 16/18 effort. Pink are in peril now at 1-5-0, having only managed a win against winless Teal in Week Five. They’ll need a strong showing against Green this Sunday, or it could be time to start making alternate plans for September Sundays…

Week Six…Game Two…game of the season, so far. You’d have found that statement laughable, if you’d left the rink after a laugher of a first period that saw Yellow cruise out to a 4-0 lead. Josh Wirt struck twice, taking turns with Eric Willard and Shawna Hamon in a score-at-will show of power. Captain Mark Nagy led his team back by example, cutting the lead in half with goals less than a minute apart in the early second. Wirt completed the hat trick later in the middle frame, but Matt Rogers third of the season made it 5-3 going into the third. Jordan Pynn provided the next wave of heroics for Brown, cutting the lead to one at 9:32 in the third, then knotting the score with a short-handed stunner at 7:06. A 4-0 Yellow rout job was now a marvelous 5-5 melee…anyone’s game with seven minutes to play. Of course, this game just begged for a dramatic finish, and Mr. Wirt obliged. His fourth of the night, the game-winner, came on a scramble…a wicked backhand roof job from a tough angle…6-5, Yellow…WOW! The wild win keeps Yellow out ahead of the entire field at 5-1-0, while the tough loss is particularly bitter for Brown, who need all the points they can get to scramble to cut line safety from their 2-3-1 perch.

Captain Mark DeGraffenreid gave AnTealfa their first lead of the season at 8:21 in this first. You read that right…their first lead of the season. It wouldn’t last. Steve Jones scored late in the first (1:08), and even later in the second (0:06) to turn the tide for Green. Sadie Hellstrom forced one home to keep Teal daydreaming of a positive outcome, but Mostafa Azab snapped them (rudely) awake with the game-winner in the late going. Empty-netters from Captain Chad Goins and one to complete the ‘hat trick’ for Jones made this one look like a laugher at 5-2, but it was certainly no laughing matter for Teal, who remain careening toward elimination at 0-4-1. The win rights the ship for Green, who had suffered their first loss of the season to Orange the week prior. They will look to continue feasting on bottom feeders in Week Seven, as they take on 1-5-0 Pink. Teal will hope against hope for a good result against Black to keep their season alive. and send Nick Adkins out with style in his final SDFHL game.

The penultimate pairing of the night was a soccer match between Red and Black. Like most soccer matches, it ended in a 1-1 draw. Red’s Chuck Russell was the main reason it was close at all, as he stole a point with a 29/30 showing. Sean Kelly was tested less than half as much at the other end, but earned the same result, stopping 13/14. Joe Malki had Black on the board first (in the first), and Steve Linke second of the season (in the second) was the answer echoing through an otherwise hollow score sheet. The result keeps both teams safely in the middle of the back, both with their bye week behind them, and both primed for the playoffs with five games left to play.

Deborah Finucane shoved the Salt boys out of the scoring spotlight in Week Six, touching twine thrice, and assisting on the game-winner in Navy’s 4-1 waltz past White. That other goal did belong to Zach Salt, so I suppose a sliver of spotlight was shared, after all. Meanwhile, the lone bright spot for White was newcomer, Jon Champine, who scored his first SDFHL goal early in the third to give his team a glimmer of hope. However, with Chris Tran unavailable in nets for Navy (because…well…he plays out for White!), it was a dominant-as-usual Sean Kelly seeing Navy through to the win (24/25). Navy remain in striking distance for the top playoff spot as they head into their bye week, while the loss leaves White in limbo at 2-2-1. Their next opponent carries the same record into Week Seven, with an important second half start at stake for both sides.

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…