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.

After an extra week of waiting, the Fall League 2024 keg was finally tapped, with freshly-brewed Brown and Red ales flowing freely in the four o’clock hour. Captain Ryan Karns & Company, while reasonably stout from top to bottom, had to hope that their secret ingredient (rookie netminder, Mason Holcomb) would give Brown a winning pour in his SDFHL debut. With just three years of drinking age eligibility under his belt (and very much looking like ‘that kid that sneaked in with a fake ID’), he was sure to be carded hard by Captain Mark Nagy and Red’s eager offense. Red chugged out to an early lead in possession, and held a 5-1 lead in shots through one period of play, but ‘Da New Kid’ allowed no spillage, and the teams would roll into the second period with matching zeroes. The chatter on the Brown bench at the break was centered around generating more than ONE shot in the next ten minute chunk, and Captain Karns led by example, firing one shot into Don Tran’s pads, then collecting his own rebound to notch the first goal of the new season on the coveted second shot just twenty-one ticks into the middle layer. The ‘shoot shoot shoot’ mentality continued, with Mark DeGraffenreid cashing in at 6:55 to build Brown’s lead to two (from Rich Shane), and Holcomb remaining steady at his end to preserve that margin. The third period belonged to Kalen Hunter, who made his SDFHL return truly triumphant with three dazzling goals to put the game well out of reach of a Red redemption. The hat trick began when he snapped home a blistering top corner wrister (Sadie Hellstrom), then came a nifty bang bang tuck-in in front (Hellstrom and Andy Strathman), and finally a very sick/slick backhand deke-and-roof from a tight angle (Leah Gonzales). The furious finish more than made up for the slow start, with ‘Da New Kid’ keeping his nets ball free through three (10/10) to secure the 5-0 win for Brown, and earn his first career win, and first career shutout. CONGRATULATIONS, MASON! Tran (15/20) absorbed the loss for Red, who lost their early edge to fatigue with three key defenders (Dorothy Kline, Mark Daquipa, and Will Heinl) out of the lineup.

There is maybe nothing as special or memorable for a veteran SDFHLer as finally getting to play with your offspring. This is becoming increasingly more common, as us ‘first generation’ players suddenly find ourselves with highschoolers who are ready to strap on a helmet and come out to play with mom and pop. The latest entry in this torch-passing trend…William Teglia. Fresh off his sweet sixteen, the son of two OG members of the SDFHL family was set to make his league debut under the proud, watchful eyes of his mom/captain, Janet Goins, and step dad/teammate, Chad Goins. With the proven potency of Brennen Abel and Jackson Tomaszewksi, and the potential potency of Eric Enciso out of the lineup, toppling Captain Nick Meglich’s Green would be a tall order for the newest/youngest league member and his Orange-clad comrades. Meglich was his typical ‘Megical’ self in this one, but the real story was at the other end. A relentless Green attack, led by Josh Wirt and Nick Vacchio, racked up 22 shots against Chuck Bender over the first two periods, and while Bender would bend (a few VERY close calls), he would not break. The final shot count would show Green nearly tripling Orange’s output (30-11), but Bender kept his team in it from start to finish with a mix of solid positioning and glovework, ‘Raygun’ Olympic breaking moves, and a dash of good fortune. Alas, ‘the other Nick’…Mr. Vacchio, would spoil both Teglia’s debut and Bender’s brilliance, finally finding twine at 8:43 in the third (Josh Wirt & Vinny Santora) to give Green a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Teglia had a golden opportunity to even the score later in the third, but Meglich had the answer to his breakaway question, leaving the rookie heroics for another Sunday. Meglich (11/11) joined newcomer, Mason Holcomb, in the low-intensity shutout column, locking down an opening win for his side, while Bender (29/30) earned first star honors for his in-vain valiance. In spite of the loss, it is clear that Captain Janet was happy with her teams short-benched efforts, and extremely proud of her son’s first showing. Again, some things in life (and certainly sport) transcend wins and losses…

It must have come as some relief to Captain Jon Salt when he learned that his Heather Blue bunch would not have to find holes in the armor of defending champion/living legend, Sean Kelly, in their season opener. Any such relief almost certainly flipped to grief on learning that Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks would be filling the pipes in Kelly’s stead. While neither goalie is fun to face, and while Kelly did outduel Perks in the Spring League Final, it’s clear the the latter is the leader of the goalie pack as we shuffle toward 2025. The aforementioned PTSD (Perks To Sub…Damn!) felt by Salt & Company transitioned to panic and confusion as warmups wrapped and their own netminder, newcomer Eric Kroeker, was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Nick Meglich was still suited and available to fill in for Kroeker, who we later learned (upon his arrival at around 7:00pm) simply had his team’s game time in his head as 8:00pm. So, with Vegas scrambling to fix the line from ‘Kelly v Kroeker’ to ‘Perks v Meglich’, our muddled little middle game got underway. Blue overwhelmed and outshot White 9-1 in the first period, and Luke Wolmer made one of those shots count, burying a beautiful backdoor feed from Salt, with the second assist going to Ty Pereira. A scoreless second saw no change in Blue’s dominance, at least in the statistical realm, as they followed their 9-1 first period with a 10-4 (good buddy) second period slant. Perks was Perks, though, keeping it a one goal game going into the third, and Carl Vankoughnett finally found an answer for White with 8:12 to play (from super sub Kerri Sevenbergen & Captain Geoff Downes). White finally managed to match Blue in shots down the stretch (5-5), as well, but the last part of that stretch was a devastating doozy…Ty Pereira (ironically, undoing the 1-1 tie) with the game-winning solo dagger with just 34 ticks to play. A 2-1 last minute loss is not how you want to start the season, but considering White was outshot 24-10, and had ‘The Silencer’™ as their last line of defense, it is hard to be too upset or frustrated by the loss. Nick Meglich (9/10) will be added to The Kroeker’s Christmas card list for sweating through another early evening match in Eric’s stead, and we can only hope that the Kroeker calendar has been updated with accurate game times for the rest of the season.

The first three games of the season produced nine total goals, and (spoiler alert) the nightcap added just two more, for a grand total of eleven goals in four games. The one remaining game, a grinding grudge match between Captain Joel Gattey’s Gold and Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue, managed to match that goal total, while also providing the lion’s share of the opening night ‘drama’. Both teams boast potent offensive threats, but when even ‘The Silencer’™ allows FOUR goals, you know this was a wacky, wild, Kool-Aid style battle for the ages. Kyle Snyder struck for three of those Silas-solvers, the first of which coming at 6:22 in the first (from Captain Gattey), and the second a solo effort at 3:44. Captain Gaudio had sandwiched the 1-1 equalizer for Atomic Blue between the Snyder salvos at 4:55 (from Shawna Hamon and Mostafa Azab), and he would equalize again at 2:18 (from Vance Morra and Robert Pietropaula). Morra’s primary on Gaudio’s second was just the tip of the Vanceberg™ in this one, as the humble-but-deadly Canuck would carry the day for Atomic Blue from that point on. His first of the night gave Atomic Blue their first lead with 0:50 remaining in the first, and after Snyder brought Gold level again early in the second (John Gamm), Morra was there with another late period goal to restore the one goal Atomic edge going into the final period of play. Rookie Steve Pugliese recorded his first career SDFHL goal (CONGRATULATIONS, Steve!) to draw Gold even for a second time just twenty-one ticks into the third, but Morra was there again…completing the hat trick on the power play to put his team back in front, 5-4 (Hamon and Chris Tran). Speaking of career firsts, it was finally time for Greg Francisco to break his career scoring seal, pushing Blue to their first two goal lead with his first ever (CONGRATULATIONS, Greg!) (from Gaudio & Tran), and Mostafa Azab added a neat little bow at 1:01 (Gaudio & Kerri Sevenbergen) to complete the wrap of a 7-4 win over Gold for Atomic Blue. Multiple reports of squabbles/near physical altercations surfaced after this one, and while ‘intensity’ is appreciated to some degree, it is also a good time for a reminder to all that we are out there to have fun and enjoy a sport we love…please try not to kill each other. So…yes, if you are scoring at home, that was THE Silas Perks allowing four goals for maybe the first time ever (?), but securing the win all the same (because…of course) with a 10/14 line. At the other end, Matt Henderson (22/29) felt the sting of POTW Morra and the mighty Atomic Blue attack, absorbing a tough loss in a fill-in stint for the soon-to-make-his-much-anticipated-return titan of the twine, Alex Theis.

As alluded to in the previous recap, the late game was a return to the kinder, gentler, lower-scoring fare, with Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey taking on Captain Zach Salt’s Lime. A scoreless first saw Lime holding a small edge in shots (8-5), and even when that edge became more pronounced in the second (12-5), the zeroes stayed intact…well…ALMOST intact. Dan Jurgens broke the shutout deadlock with 0:01 to go in the middle frame, capping a series from Emily Bennington and Captain Salt to steal a lead JUST ahead of the second intermission. Matt Henderson, now in nets for his native team, had stopped all but that one of twenty shots through two periods, while Jon Cima rested considerably more comfortably on his end, having only faced ten. Grey finally got their offense operational in the third though, with Jon Zygelman smashing home an answer at 7:55 (Justin Stege & Hima Joshi). Both teams would continue to press, with the shots falling only slightly in Grey’s favor in the final parcel of play (8-7), but both Henderson (26/27) and Cima (17/18) would hold on to earn a point for their respective teams in a very quiet and civil 1-1 affair. Henderson earned first star honors for his considerable efforts, and the league got its first look at Silas Perks…the defender, who logged the first game of a four game fill-in stint for his brother, Owen. It was Perks third game of the night (two in nets, and the third without all the gear), but I for one am disappointed in his lack of production. No double hat trick…no long range snipes…nothing. I guess what we’ve learned is that ‘The Silencer’™ is just not good enough to play out, and should probably just stick with tending goal…