A thrilling Week Nine clash between Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘CarliforNeons’ and Captain John Boddy’s ‘Night At The PinkDeBerry’ saw the former squeeze past the latter 1-0, and set a baseline of buzz for the second season encore encounter. Both teams had handled their opening game business against their lower seed match, but neither was what you would consider a ‘convincing’ win. Neon edged past eighth-seeded Purple 3-1, but an empty-netter made that score look a bit more comfy than it really was. Pink made a one goal lead hold up through a scoreless third to move past their downstairs neighbor, Green, 3-2. With two of the highest scoring offenses through the regular season (Neon with 29 goals, and Pink with 27), it seemed unlikely that the rematch would leave the scoresheet as empty as the first go around, but a scoreless first was certainly ‘giving’ (as the kids say) another nail biting pitchers’ duel. Justin Hepler broke the scoring seal for Neon at 9:48 in the first (Darin Cerasuolo & Jim LaGrossa), and that seal was (apparently) holding back a flood! Darin Cerasuolo made it 2-0 Neon at 6:38 (LaGrossa), and it was DC again just twenty seconds later to make it 3-0 (Captain Vankoughnett & LaGrossa). Liv Bryant finally answered for Pink with a blue line snipe to cut the lead to two at 5:49 (Ryan Loughran & Captain Boddy), but Ryan Karns restored Neon’s three goal edge on a breakaway at 2:12 (Darin Cerasuolo & Mark Nagy). Jackson Tomaszewski answered again for Pink at 0:45 (Loughran & Boddy), but Cerasuolo capped his hat trick with just 0:07 to go before the second break (Hepler & Vankoughnett) to wrap a wacky, wild, Kool-Aid style seven goal second. Captain Vankoughnett made it 6-2 Neon at 5:48 in the third (Ramsey Ksar & Cerasuolo), Captain Boddy cut the lead to three at 1:10 (Bryant & Downes), and a Hepler empty-netter finally put an end to a ten goal maelstrom that buoyed Neon to a 7-3 win, and washed Pink down to the Losers’ Bracket with a lopsided loss. Chuck Bender (19/22) was solid in the win…likely having any nerves he may have had coming in settled by his team’s score-at-will swagger, while Will Heinl (13/19) faced three fewer shots, but looked at least twice as taxed in his first playoff loss. Darin Cerasuolo has certainly waged an impressive rookie campaign, but this 3 and 3 POTW effort locks DC in as THE rookie of the season, and perhaps the biggest reason to bet on Neon to finish what they started and win it all. Neon is not there yet, though…they must find a way past a red hot Red this Sunday to book a spot in the Final. Pink will need to regroup and redeem themselves to stay alive in the race when they face a hit or miss Brown side.

It’s safe to say that neither Captain Sean Bathgate’s Brown, nor Captain Tyler Winstead’s Grey were in much danger of winning their opening round match. Brown got smacked around and beaten (way) down by Red, who touchdown danced their way to a crushing 7-2 win in Week One, while Grey SOMEHOW (well…Don Tran how) held their losing line to Baby Blue to 3-1, in spite of being outshot THIRTY-FOUR to FOUR. So…straight to the Losers’ Bracket for both teams, with no margin for error, much less margin for falling behind by five goals, or conceding a thirty shot deficit. Mark DeGraffenreid put Brown in front first, tucking home a rebound on a Chris Tran power rush to give his team something to show for a 9-2 edge in shots through the first ten minutes of play. A scoreless second saw the shot gap close to 6-3 in Brown’s favor, and a Josh Tran equalizer at 8:49 in the third (Jenna Chercoe & Jeremy Copp), combined with…brace yourself…a 7-5 shot edge in Grey’s favor had the seven seeds feeling like this was their much-needed, long-awaited turning point. Neither team could muster a game-winner in regulation, so it was off to the first overtime period of these Summer League 2025 playoffs. The safe OT hero money was on someone like…oh, I don’t know…the man who tied last season’s final with 0:04 to go in regulation, then won it all at 3:05 in OT. Yes…it was that guy again…Josh Wirt reprising his hero role with the game-winning-Grey-gut-puncher at 3:02 in extra time (Austin Szymanski & Chris Tran). Wirt backhand batted a weird, arcing, deflected ball behind Don Tran (20/22) to keep Brown alive and unalive Grey, 2-1. Matt Henderson (12/13) was sharp as ever in the must-win for Bathgate & Company, who survive to face Pink this Sunday. These teams met WAY back in Week One (May 18th…time flies!) and Brown will have to hope for a VERY different result from the 6-2 groin kick Pink issued on that date. With the playoffs running ‘by the numbers’ to this point (no upsets), the underdog role seemed destined to be simply ‘roll over and die’, but…perhaps some lower seed inspiration would come from the final two games of the Week Two playoff slate…

The second Winners’ Bracket bout on the Week Two fight card was (for me, anyway) the most intriguing ‘on paper’. Yes, the Neon v Pink Week Nine tilt was a tight and titillating tip toward the playoff rematch, but the Week One battle between Captain Rob LaVigne’s #2 Baby Blue and Captain Wendy Enright’s #3 Red was an equally sublime showdown. You’ll recall (or not…I am here to remind you) that this was the game that Chris Tran (33/34) flat out stole for Baby Blue, with Kevin Hunter and Gary Peters cashing in on two of the total dozen shots Baby Blue fired in response to nearly thrice the other way to smash and grab a 2-1 opening week (indeed, opening game of the opening week) win. Revenge is a dish best served cold, but sometimes a cooked and cooled revenge plot is just a gross, cold meal that you are left choking down between sobs and slugs of warm white wine. Whatever the course set before them (see what I did there), Red would need to cut and stab with two of their key utensils in a drawer far away (Owen Perks and Andy Strathman). Baby Blue was bereft at the banquet as well, with Captain LaVigne and The Hunters™ (Kalen and Kevin) out of the lineup. So, it would be up to the ‘secondary scorers’, and none of those ‘secondary scorers’ managed to score through the first ten minute chunk. Jon Zygelman finally broke the scoreless tie at 6:21 in the second (Trevor Vick), but that would stand as the lone goal for either side heading into the third. Joe Nguyen became the second ‘secondary’ to do damage, bumping Red’s lead to 2-0 at 7:55 (Trevor Vick & Tim Vick), and Captain Enright made it 3-0 in her team’s favor with her first of the playoffs at 6:07 (Zygelman). JZ’s second of the night nestled into an empty net at 1:41, and had both sides gathering their belongings and heading for the exits, but a too-little-too-late-but-no-less-cool pair of strikes from Gary Peters at 0:58 (Luke Wolmer) and 0:10 (Wolmer) served to spoil the shutout for Jon Cima (10/12), and perhaps provided the slightest silver lining/reason to hope for Baby Blue in the 4-2 loss. So…right on cue…speak of the devil…the first upset of the Summer League 2025 season was authored by a suddenly VERY dangerous and daunting Red. Chris Tran (19/22) and the rest of the number two crew will look to rebound this Sunday against bottom-seeded Purple, while Red look to stay hot and scorch their way to the cat bird seat with a second straight upset win, this time over top-seeded Neon.

The Week Two playoff slate wrapped with (for me, anyway) the least intriguing match ‘on paper’. Nothing at all against Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green, nor Captain Mason Holcomb’s Purple, but an elimination bout between two lower seeds who finished in the bottom half of the regular season goals-for chart (including, of course, the two teams that didn’t make the playoffs), and just two players on either side having really strong seasons (both on Green…Brennen Abel and Sean Kelly)…not exactly the makings of ‘must see’ hockey, especially if you’re 50+ like me and have work in the morning. My ‘on paper’ assessment of this one was not at all ‘on target’, though, with another OT thriller unfolding under the lights as two down and desperate teams battled to determine who would survive, and who would become the fourth team on the playoff scrap heap. A scoreless first saw the bottom seeds holding a slim edge in shots (6-4), and that edge produced the first cut on the scoreboard at 7:42 in the second, with Joe Malki putting Purple on the front foot first with an unassisted effort. Dr. Greg Francisco picked a perfect time to score just his SECOND career goal, and first career playoff goal to make it 2-0 Purple at 6:09 in the second (Hima Joshi & Zach Siemer). CONGRATULATIONS, GREG! Nick Vacchio provided the first answer for Green less than two minutes later (Dave Bourgouin), leaving Captain Nguyen & Company down just one going into the final frame. Veteran Steve Goncalo was next to act, knotting the ledger at 2-2 with 5:32 to play in regulation (Mostafa Azab), and Sean Kelly (18/21) and Captain Holcomb (15/17) kept it knotted to force the second overtime period of the evening for all the marbles. A keen eye trained on the previous sentence (or, you know, just paying any attention at all over the course of this week) would tell you that it was Purple who would push the game-winner past the opposing goalie in that abbreviated fourth period, with Joe Malki finishing the hero’s quest he started earlier in the game with his game-winning/Green-eliminating second of the night at 4:10 (Shawna Hamon & Chris Fiore). The 3-2 OT win for Captain Holcomb’s plucky Purple served as the night’s second upset, and pushes the bottom seeds into another fight for life against a wounded but weapon-laden Baby Blue. Green Bao out (see what I did there) with the sudden death loss, becoming the second lower seed to exit the tournament, joining #7 Grey on the ‘no Sunday plans…what are you up to?’ pile with playoff personae non gratae, Royal Blue and White.

Momentum is huge in sports, but it isn’t everything, and the playoffs can be a much needed ‘reset’ for some, and an untimely streak snapper for others. Captain John Boddy’s Pink cruised out to 3-0-0 to open their season, built the rest of their playoff case with a 2-1-0 middle third, then crashed hard and limped to the finish line with three straight losses to fall to the four seed. So, a ‘reset’ was certainly the plan for Pink, while Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green looked to continue their resurgence after entering the playoffs through the front door with a 2-1-0 final swing to push to the middle of the post season pack. Nick Vacchio put Green on top first at 3:07 in the first (Brennen Abel & Steve Goncalo), but Jason Lee drew Pink level on a nifty power play series from Liv Bryant and Geoff Downes at 2:31. Eli Schonbrun put Pink’s ‘reset’ in motion in earnest at 7:23 in the second (Jackson Tomaszewski & Downes), and Downes padded the Pink lead at 5:49 (Lee & Captain Boddy). Abel drew Green back to within one with 2:13 to play in the second (Goncalo), setting up a tight, tense third with Pink hoping to preserve their ‘reset’ and avoid an ‘upset’. Green were only in striking distance of the latter thanks to the heroics of Sean Kelly (23/26) who was (once again) keeping his team in a game in spite of a very lopsided shot count (26-10 in Pink’s favor, at game’s end). Alas for Captain Nguyen & Company, striking distance would be as close as they would get, as Mason Holcomb (8/10) deflected all four shots he faced in the final period to earn a 3-2 win for Pink in a fill-in foray for Will Heinl. The ‘reset’ win has earned Pink a rematch with Neon — a chance to avenge a VERY tough/tight 1-0 Week Nine loss and propel themselves one step closer to the Final in the process. Green will need a regroup/reset of their own now, with bottom seeds Purple lurking in the late game this Sunday.

Much like momentum, playoff seeding is important/telling, but far from a fool-proof predicter of post season performance. Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘CarliforNeons’ had not only the momentum of a three game regular season landing-sticking dismount, but also the glory, prestige, and privilege afforded by a hard-earned top seed on their trophy shelf coming into their playoff opener against Captain Mason Holcomb’s Purple. Purple…losers of their last two to faceplant through the back door to the playoffs as the eighth seed…basically Neon’s polar opposite in terms of mojo and expectation, but…you never know how the playoffs winds will blow. The winds blew tumbleweed through a scoreless first that saw the teams combine for seven shots, but Captain Carl finally broke the scoring seal at 7:52 in the second (Jim LaGrossa & Darin Cerasuolo) to set Neon on their presumed path to victory. Justin Hepler made that presumed path a bit less precarious at 6:42 in the third (LaGrossa), but an odd/fluky Chris Malki shot from range tightened the margin back to one with 5:11 to play (Joe Malki & Steve Linke). Neither Chuck Bender (9/10) nor Captain Holcomb (13/15) were especially taxed in this game, but Neon’s one goal edge forced Holcomb to vacate his net in the waning minutes, leading to a Darin Cerasuolo empty-netter to seal the 3-1 win for Neon (Hepler & Mark Nagy). As noted in the first recap, this result sets up rematch for the ages between Neon and Pink in the Winners’ Bracket, and a fight for playoff life between Green and Purple on the Losers’ side.

Yet another typical metric employed in divining the outcomes of playoff play is, of course, the outcome of the regular season matchup. The outcome of the first Red v Brown throwdown was a resounding/convincing 6-2 victory for Captain Wendy Enright’s Red, and (of course) a deflating/demoralizing 6-2 loss for Captain Sean Bathgate’s Brown. Adding to the impact, the fact that this lopsided first meeting loaf came hot and fresh out of the Week Nine oven. The only glimmer of ‘yeah, but’ for Brown…the absence of both Chris Tran and Mark DeGraffenreid in that regular season finale. With both back in uniform in the post season rematch, and stalwart defender Andy Strathman out of the lineup for Red, Brown had to like their chances of keeping this one close, and possibly even staging the first upset of the Summer League 2025 second season. Nope…hard, loud, booming NOPE! Josh Wirt actually had Brown believing the ‘revenge is a dish…’ angle early, putting Brown in front 1-0 with an impressive effort (Austin Szymanski & Mark DeGraffenreid), but the Red storm started less than a minute later with Jon Zygelman’s counterstrike at 5:45 (Owen Perks & Tim Vick). Super sub Shelby Shattuck made it 2-0 with an unassisted tally at 2:12, and Perks notched the first of his three on the night to make it 3-1 before the first break (Zygelman & Trevor Vick). The second period was all Red, with Tim Vick adding his name to the list of Red scorers at 9:40 (Perks), then Perks piling on his second of the game at 9:05 (Trevor Vick), then sliding home his unassisted hat trick capper at 8:12 to push this one into ‘laugher’ territory at 6-1 through two. Trevor Vick became the fifth Red scorer of the night at 8:40 in the third (Perks & Shattuck), and a late deflection goal for Chris Tran (Mark DeGraffenreid & Josh Wirt) did very little to soften the crushing blow of the instant encore 7-2 blowout win for Red. Perks claimed his second straight POTW crown with a 3 and 3 hammer, as Jon Cima (9/11) earned the win with light effort while Matt Henderson (12/19) bore the brunt of Perks’ brilliance, and Red’s truly impressive offensive array. Captain Enright will be back to enjoy the fun with her fully-fueled friends as Red square off against a tough number two in Baby Blue, while Brown look to avoid playing the clown and going down and out of the playoffs as they fight to right their sinking ship against seventh-seeded Grey.

The Week One nightcap saw the first team to book playoff passage, Captain Rob LaVigne’s Baby Blue, taking on the last team to make the cut, Captain Tyler Winstead’s Grey. Granted, LaVigne & Company shared the Week Six post season confirmation honors with both Pink and Neon, but they were technically the first, due to the order of the schedule that night. Winstead’s crew, meanwhile, laid dead and waiting to be buried for seven weeks of regular season play before rolling away from the edge of the grave and rising to the seventh seed like a zombie in a way-too-farfetched-even-for-a-zombie-flick flick. All consideration of ‘momentum’ and ‘destiny’ aside, it would take an even less believable effort for Grey to topple Baby Blue on this night, especially with Josh Tran out, and Jordan Pynn having given way to the capable, but hardly-Pynn-akin (no one is, to be fair) Mark Daquipa. This tale read as written, but not without Don Tran (31/34) giving his all and then some to subvert the prevailing plot. Tran’s heroism, even if it had risen to the heights of absolutely perfection, would have BARELY been enough to see his team to a win. With three goals allowed, Grey would have needed literal shot perfection to prevail. That’s right, humble reader…Grey scraped together just FOUR shots! Grey mustered period shot totals of ZERO, ONE, and THREE, whilst THIRTY-FOUR shots were fired the other way. It’s a minor miracle that this game was ever in doubt, but Tran kept Baby Blue frustrated through a 12-0 shot first, and only (finally) allowed the first blemish on his sparkling sheet at 1:34 in the second…Arnold Gonzales from Luke Wolmer. Wolmer made it 2-0 at 9:04 in the third (Arnold Gonzales & Kalen Hunter), and an unassisted strike from Captain LaVigne at 6:47 finally saw the score coming into some semblance of mathematically sane sync with the steeply sloped shot count. Distant Don cousin, Chris Tran (3/4), meanwhile, may well have been lulled to sleep at his end by then, and can hardly be blamed for the lone Grey retaliation off Dan Jurgen’s stick with 5:45 to go (Mark Daquipa and…yes, DON TRAN). That’s right, folks…Don added an assist as the cherry on top of his incredible Sunday sundae, but Baby Blue earned just desserts for their dominant performance with a 3-1 win. LaVigne & Company will hope for a cooler opposing crease-minder when they take on Red in a VERY intriguing Week Two matchup, while Don will hope for a more balanced shot count and some actual scoring support as Grey battle with Brown to stay alive on the Losers’ side.

As we begin our gentle slope into the playoffs, a subset of teams scramble to stay clear of the cut line cliff. While no teams are in ‘must win’ mode just yet, the matchups in the middle ground of the standings take on almost as much meaning as those in the dreary depths. Captain Wendy Enright’s Red came into Week Six on an upward swing, having tied Green in Week Four, and beaten Royal Blue in Week Five to finally even their record at 2-2-1. Captain Mason Holcomb’s Purple, by contrast, were on the down escalator, with losses to Neon and Brown dropping them to 2-3-0. So, the second half of the season kicked off with one team looking to continue their upward momentum, and the other looking to arrest their fall. Andy Strathman had Red on the front foot first with his first (!) goal and first (!) point of the season at 5:13 (Jon Zygelman), but Joe Malki provided an unassisted answer less than a minute later. In an eerie coincidence, 5:13 would also be the time of the first goal in the second period, with Dorothy Kline’s first (!) goal/point of the season (Tim Vick & Trevor Vick) wresting the lead back for Red before Joe Malki (this time a little over a minute later) responded (Chris Malki & Shawna Hamon). Trevor Vick kept the back and forth scoring pattern going with his first (!) of the season at 1:57 in the second (Tim Vick & Payam Sazegar), but that is where the pattern would abruptly come to an end. Jon Cima (17/19) made his team’s three tallies stand with a perfect 8/8 third in Red’s 3-2 win, while Captain Holcomb’s perfect 7/7 third (in a valiant 17/20 effort) could not save Purple from a third straight loss. The win propels Red into the top half of the standings at 3-2-1, and with the 1-4-1 White up next, they may well punch their playoff ticket this Sunday. Purple’s road is considerably rockier, with powerhouse Pink up next. A fourth straight loss, combined with a win for either White or Royal Blue, would plant Purple below the cut line with just two games to go.

Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Turd Burgenson’ were circling the bowl after a tough opening pair of opponents in Pink (6-2 loss) and Neon (3-1 loss) had wiped out their first two efforts, but had since mustered wins over Baby Blue and Purple to arrive at Week Six at 2-3-0. The only unaccounted for loss in the previous sentence…a disastrous Week Four flushing at the hands of then-winless Royal Blue. A loss like that certainly saps the expected confidence a team would/should have against other struggling teams, and Captain Nick Meglich’s White certainly falls into the ‘struggling team’ category. Coming in at 1-3-1, White were as close as any team to ‘must win’ country to start the second stretch of the season, but a win over Brown would move them above the cut line, and indeed above Brown with three weeks to play. Rob Gaudio put White on the path to realizing that rally to redemption, notching his second of the season just 0:36 in (Eric Willard & Maureen Ruchhoeft), but Mark DeGraffenreid equalized at 5:32, completing a nifty passing chain from Captain Bathgate to Austin Szymanski. The gorgeous backdoor feed was Szymanski’s first SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, Austin! The intensity remained high in the second, though the shot counts (a mere 4-2, in Brown’s favor) were meager, and the scoring stripped down to a single strike…a sweet and subtle five hole tip on a centering feed for super sub, Hima Joshi. Marc Lapointe was the primary on the Joshi goal (Chris Tran the second), with his yeoman forechecking efforts leading to a hard-fought 2-1 Brown lead going into the third. The shots and scoring ratcheted up in a wacky final period, with Chris Tran padding Brown’s lead at 4:39 (Erin Plone), then tucking home and empty-netter (Mark DeGraffenreid)…the presumptive deal-sealer to make it 4-1. Jerry Gonzales had other ideas, cashing in at 1:04 (Gaudio), then 0:36 (Vance Morra) to cut the lead back to one and leave the Brown bench stunned and sweating to the final buzzer. That final buzzer did come with no further heroics, however, with Mason Holcomb (11/14) preserving a vital 4-3 win for Brown in Matt Henderson’s absence. Captain Meglich was also absent, but Will Heinl (20/23) was his more than capable stand-in in the losing effort. The win has Brown level at 3-3-0…smack in the middle of the standings going into the final third of the season. They hope to keep their distance from the likes of their next opponent, the 1-3-2 Grey, and push closer to a playoff perch in the process. White will need to start their playoff push in earnest this Sunday, as Captain Meglich returns to lead his team against a resurgent Red.

‘MacBlueber’ made the front page in Week One, after pulling off an incredible 2-1 coup at Red’s expense, in spite of being outshot 34-12, and in spite of the absence of their top two offensive weapons in Kalen Hunter and Luke Wolmer. Captain Rob LaVigne & Company have continued to strut through the summer season after that stunning start, even toppling the seemingly untoppleable Pink in Week Four after suffering their own (and only) shocking loss to Brown the week prior. Their 4-1-0 mark coming into their Week Six middle match with Captain Bao Nguyen’s 2-2-1 Green was good for a share of first place, and having already vanquished one of those shareholders (Pink), really anything but a loss would make them the first team to punch a playoff ticket. Green’s last outing was a 6-3 loss to said supercharged shareholder (Pink), and the Week Six hope was not just a bounce back, but a big win over a clear Cup favorite to make a strong statement, push into the lead pack, and draw closer to a playoff berth of their own. Four small problems fulfilling that hope…the absences of Brennen Abel, Dave Bourgouin, Mostafa Azab, and Nick Vacchio. So…short bench and long odds for Green, but…you never know. The favorites came out firing in this one, with Baby Blue outshooting Green by a 10-2 margin, but Sean Kelly was absolutely on another planet in another solar system somewhere in the Amazeballs Galaxy in this one. Will Heinl did manage to find a sliver of space (Amazeballs Galaxy callback, for the win) to slide home the first goal of the game for Baby Blue at 7:38 (Captain LaVigne), but that would be all Kelly would allow through that 10-2 first, and the FIFTEEN TO ZERO period to follow. I repeat/clarify…Baby Blue racked up fifteen shots in the second to Green’s zero…and yet this remained a 1-0 game going into the third. LaVigne & Company had to be feeling confident going into that third, but might also have felt a tinge of fear that they could have a much-deserved win snatched from them, just as they had snatched a much-deserved win from Red in their season debut. Luke Wolmer finally provided an opportunity for a collective Baby Blue exhale with 3:38 to play (Gary Peters & Kalen Hunter), and while the lopsided shot count continued (14-2 for Baby Blue), one of those two Green shots did find twine at 0:05…Steve Goncalo (Captain Nguyen). When the dust (mainly from the relentless flurry of Baby Blue shots) settled, Chris Tran (3/4) would collect his team’s fifth win…perhaps the easiest of his career…2-1 over Green. At the other end…an absolutely ridiculous 37/39 museum piece from Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly…probably one of the most heartbreaking regular season losses of his storied career. The win, combined with other Week Six results, locked Baby Blue is as the first official playoff participant. Their Week Seven opponent, Neon, will likely be the last true challenge to their quest to finish at the top of the pack. Green, meanwhile, remain in stable playoff condition in spite of the loss, especially given that two of their remaining three opponents, Royal Blue and Grey, are below them in the standings, with each having managed just one win to this point in the season.

Very much unlike their lighter blue brethren, Captain William Teglia’s Royal Blue have finally made the front page…for all the wrong reasons. With White’s loss earlier in the evening dropping them 1-4-1, the cellar door was ajar and ready to be kicked open. A win would allow Teglia & Company to cross to the safe side of the cut line threshold, and improve their record to 2-3-1 in the leadup to their Week Seven matchup with a 2-3-1 Green. In short, this was THE chance to turn everything around…they just needed to climb the stairs to that door and…SLAM! I forgot to mention that Captain John Boddy’s Pink was guarding that door, and while already sitting pretty at 4-1-0, Pink was pumped and primed to keep pace with Baby Blue in the race to the top seed. Jackson Tomaszewski put Pink on top first with his fourth of the season at 2:21 (Ryan Loughran & Captain Boddy), but Jon Salt answered on the power play at 0:40 with his nearly-league-leading eighth (Janet Goins). It was all Pink in the middle frame, with Tomaszewski snapping home his second of the game at 8:25 (Elyse Shattuck), and Geoff Downes adding some padding at 3:59 (Loughran & Tomaszewski). You’re (almost) always in a game with Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks as your last line of defense, and even with a lopsided shot ledger (28-11 in Pink’s favor from start to finish), and a short bench (Captain Teglia, Gordon Schmidt, Jason Northrup, and Steph Palomo Schmidt all out), Royal Blue still had a chance to rescue at least a point with ten minutes to play. Enter our POTW, newcomer Jenna Chercoe. Chercoe was still in search of her first career SDFHL point, and having that first point come in the form of a goal would be golden. Lo and behold…Jenna Chercoe at 8:36 in the third from Brendan Jew and Jon Salt…CONGRATU…wait…Jenna was serving as a sub for Steph…so while her goal would bring Royal Blue a step closer in a rally to tie, it would not actually count as her first career goal…*sad trombone*. Still, with plenty of time left on the clock, Royal Blue were still in it to win it against a powerhouse Pink…until that ‘plenty of time’ became ‘a few minutes’, then a ‘few seconds’, then…buzzer. Will Heinl (9/11) would hold on to seal Royal Blue’s losing fate, 3-2, while ‘The Silencer’™ (25/28) was left making plans to meet up with Sean Kelly at the local chapter of the Lack Of Goal Support Support Group™. The win books playoff passage for Pink, and drops Royal Blue to 1-4-1. A win over Green this Sunday is now as close to a must as it gets (without being a true ‘must’). A nasty Neon waits for Teglia’s crew in Week Eight, and (as the SDFHL fates always have it) the final game of the final week of play will be Royal Blue v White…the two current cellar dwellers. Either (or both) teams may still have a shot to survive at that point, but they will both need points between now and then or the point will be moot.

Jenna Chercoe scored ‘her first career SDFHL’ goal in a sub role for Royal Blue, but of course that *sad trombone* signaled that ‘sub goals do not count toward career numbers’. No one likes a sad trombone, but Jenna apparently hates them. Just TWELVE seconds into the nightcap, with Chercoe and her Grey mates desperate for their first win of the season against a very tough Neon side…BANG…*happy trombone*! It’s comical, if you imagine that someone tapped Chercoe on the shoulder to inform her that her goal for Royal Blue would ‘not count’…then she dons the shirt for her true team, scores a ‘true’ goal, and struts off with a ‘count THAT’ expression on her face. That’s how I want to imagine it all unfolding, but I am sure Chercoe was much more demure (as the kids say) about the milestone strike to put Grey in front at 9:48 (Josh Tran). However it went down…CONGRATULATIONS, JENNA! It should be noted that this was the first lead of the season for Grey! Captain Winstead was so inspired that he followed with his first of the season at 5:12 (Jeremy Copp) to double that lead and send shockwaves through Neon’s ranks. After all, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon came in as heavy favorites at 4-1-0, and with the return of ‘The Albatross’, Justin Hepler, all of the smart money was on the (considerably) brighter clad brigade. Hepler did answer for Neon later in the first…JUST beating out the final tick of the clock to cut the lead back to one with a gut punch goal at 0:01 (Captain Vankoughnett & Ryan Karns). Jordan Pynn lit the lone lamp in the second, converting at 2:36 (Mark Scelfo & Dan Jurgens) to restore Grey’s two goal edge, and check off another modest milestone…the first time Grey had managed to score more than two goals in a single game. Neon pushed back hard in the third, racking up a 9-1 edge in shots en route to a 28-12 show of shot dominance, but alas…in the absence of their true superstar, one Patricia H Gladstone, the most Neon could muster in the way of response was a solitary strike from the stick of rookie sensation, Darin Cerasuolo. DC’s fifth of the season (Hepler) came at 5:48, but Don Tran (26/28) would finally get the offensive support he needed to lock in a Grey win…a massive 3-2 coup over Neon. Chuck Bender (9/12) shouldered just his second loss in six tries, but now at 4-2-0, Neon are still a virtual playoff lock with three games to go. They do face two titans in their final stretch in Baby Blue and Pink, with a desperate and potentially dangerous Royal Blue in that mix, as well. Grey can only bask in the glow of their first win for so long…they still have a lot of work left to do to make safely into August play, with three tough, but beatable teams remaining on their slate in Brown, Purple, and Green.

A Week Four loss to a short-benched Royal Blue had Captain Sean Bathgate’s Brown feeling rather down about their playoff prospects coming into the midway point in the season. There’s usually a bright side to even the darkest situation, though, and ‘Turd Bergensen’ could take solace in the knowledge that three of their first four games of the season had come against the top three teams in the league (Pink, Neon, and Baby Blue). A loss ‘in the trenches’ to Royal Blue was painful, but a win over Captain Mason Holcomb’s 2-2-0 Purple would be a big swing in the right direction. Purple’s .500 path to Week Five, by contrast with Brown, was paved in part with opponents in the lower half of the active standings, with their two wins having come against White and Royal Blue…teams with a combined 2-6-2 record, as I type. So…this would loom as a ‘big game’ for both teams, with both looking to gain surer footing above the cutline and stay out of desperation mode down the stretch to the postseason. The nerves that accompanied the absence of their leading goal scorer, Joe Malki (3), were assuaged by an opening strike from the league’s eldest statesman (67), Steve Linke. Linke’s first of the season at 5:00 in the first (Chris Malki) gave Purple a 1-0 lead, but POTW Josh Wirt would strike back, and back, and back in the second. It was Wirt at 8:17 from Chris Tran and Matt Henderson, Wirt at 2:41 from Tran, and a Wirt solo effort to cap a natural hat trick at 1:11. Both sides continued to press in the third, but Wirt was once again the only damage doer, notching his fourth of the game, and league-leading ninth of the season with 4:31 to play (Erin Plone & John Kushneryk) to ice the 4-1 win for Brown. Matt Henderson (13/14) was perhaps more excited about his second career assist than his second win on the season, but with just one goal allowed in his last six periods of play, it is safe to say that his mates are most excited about his stellar play. The loss drops Mason Holcomb (21/25) and Purple into a tie with Brown in the lower-middle chunk of the standings at 2-3-0. Both teams are above the cutline, but far from safe as we enter the second half of the Summer 2025 season. Brown will look to even their record against a mostly woeful White (1-3-1), while Purple look to bounce back against a hit-or-miss Red (2-2-1) this Sunday.

The two weeks leading up to Week Five were just plain weird for Captain Rob LaVigne’s ‘MacBlueber’. The Baby Blue crew rolled into Week Three at 2-0-0, heavy favorites over an 0-2-0 Brown…only to get blanked 3-0 in one of the more stunning early season results. Week Four…a Kalen-less Baby Blue facing a very fearsome opponent in the 3-0-0 Pink…a Pink team with all of their power pieces in place, and looking like a rare wire to wire winning side…only to have Baby Blue bounce them 4-2 in a big bounce back win…another of the more stunning results of the early season. Captain Tyler Winstead’s Week Five cover team, ‘It’s Not Grey In A Threeway’ would have to hope for another stunner involving Baby Blue, with their playoff hopes fading with each notch in the loss column. At 0-2-2, and with just FOUR goals in those first four games, Grey would need a change…a spark…something, or someone to spur them to a statement win and save their sinking season. Kevin Hunter put a pause on any such poetic possibilities, clapping home his second of the season at 5:12 in the first (Kalen Hunter & Captain LaVigne) to put the favorites in a favorable position. Bryan Ossa’s unassisted fourth (!) of the season just twelve ticks later, combined with a 12-3 Baby Blue edge in shots, cast a considerable shadow over the prospect of a courageous Grey coup. Kalen Hunter matched his father’s output at 7:59 in the second (Luke Wolmer & Captain LaVigne), then recorded his second helper of the game on Wolmer’s strike at 3:59. A four goal third period lead is tough for any team to overcome, but with both Justin Stege and Captain Winstead out of the lineup, an underpowered and outmatched Grey seemed to be playing uphill and against the wind. Josh Tran did finally register a response with a brilliant effort at 8:01 in the third (Dan Jurgens & Kevin Dinino), but 4-1 was as close as they would get, and Kalen’s second of the game restored Baby Blue’s four point lead for good at 6:22 (Wolmer), sealing the 5-1 win over Grey. Chris Tran (13/14) continued his sensational season with his fourth win in as many tries…it’s worth noting that Baby Blue’s only loss came when Tran was playing out for Brown against his ‘other’ team back in Week Three. His 4-0-0/.943/1.25 line has him in the thick of the top tender pack through the first half of the season. His long lost cousin, Don Tran (26/31), could only do so much to stem the towering tide in his third loss of the season, dropping both his and his team’s record to 0-3-2 with four weeks to play. It certainly doesn’t get any easier for Grey this Sunday, as they take on 4-1-0 Neon. LaVigne & Company will look to keep pace with the lead pack (Pink/Baby Blue/Neon) with another strong outing against a dangerous, but perhaps underachieving 2-2-1 Green.

The creamy middle game of our creamy middle week of Summer 2025 play saw Captain John Boddy’s 3-1-0 Pink taking on Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. The former…still stinging from their first loss of the season the Sunday prior, and raring for redemption. The latter…riding high off a 2-0-1 run that had their 3-2 Week One loss to Neon a dim and distant memory, with hopes to keep their lossless streak intact, and leapfrog one of the early season favorites in the process. While the shot count remained relatively even through the first period of play (12-10, in Pink’s favor), the scoreboard was pure Pink. Geoff Downes’ third of the season at 5:40 (Jackson Tomaszewski & Captain Boddy) made it 1-0, and his fourth of the season at 2:19 (Jason Lee) made it 2-0. Captain Boddy would give his team a 3-0 lead at 1:09 (Tomaszewski), and Pink were tickled to be back on top and in top form going into the first break. Pink poured on more in the second, with Boddy’s second of the game coming at 9:07 (Downes & Ryan Loughran), and rookie sensation, Liv Bryant, pushing a Boddy pass past Sean Kelly stand-in, Don Tran, at 5:23 to open a crushing 5-0 lead going into the third. That third was a fitting battle between Will and Abel, with Brennen Abel finally putting a ball behind Will Heinl to put Green on the board at 9:20 (Steve Goncalo). Tomaszewski would erase that effort with his first goal and third point of the night less than a minute later (Boddy & Loughran), but Abel would set the table for Nick Vacchio’s first (!) of the season at 7:04, then send home his second of the game with 1:21 to play (Vacchio & Sadie Hellstrom) to make it a three goal game down the final stretch. Alas for Captain Nguyen & Company, the late Green rush would prove too little, too late, as Heinl (23/26) and Pink would hold on for the 6-3 win, bouncing back from their first loss of the season, and (handily) handing Green their second. Don Tran (24/30) weathered another significant storm about as well as could be hoped (he faced 31 shots in a loss for his Grey team the game prior), but Pink is obviously THE offensive powerhouse this season, with their half dozen in this win putting them well in the lead for team goals-for at twenty-one. Green face another tough challenge in Baby Blue this Sunday…an opponent who boasts the second best goals-for total (16), but also shares the lowest goals-against total (8) with Neon. Pink will take their goal scoring arsenal into Week Six battle against one of the league’s best masked men (Silas Perks) and a down, but definitely not out Royal Blue.

The ‘trench battles’ are so important at this point in an SDFHL season, and nothing screams ‘TENCH’ like two 1-2-1 teams going head to head at what may turn out to be the crossroads of their respective seasons. Captain Wendy Enright’s Red suffered perhaps the most surreal loss of the season for any team, dropping a 2-1 decision to a Kalen-and-Luke-less Baby Blue in Week One, in spite of outshooting their foes 34-12. They went on to crush Grey 4-1 in their next outing, then get crushed 5-1 by Neon, and finally tie Green 1-1 in Week Four. Captain William Teglia’s Royal Blue had only just secured their first win of the season the Sunday prior, having bested Brown 5-3 to nudge above the cut line and prove they could survive (or even thrive) in the absence of The Silencer™. Perks (Silas) was back between the pipes for Royal Blue in this one, but Red had a returning Perks (Owen) of their own, adding a delicious layer of intrigue to an already spicy affair. It was Owen who would have the first laugh, putting Red on top at 7:14 in the first (Captain Enright & Jon Zygelman), and Captain Enright herself would double that lead at 3:54 (Tim Vick). Putting two past Perks (Silas) is no small feat, let alone two in one period. Even the best will crack under enough pressure, though, and while The Silencer™ cracked twice in the first, he held Red scoreless through the second, in spite of a 25-7 Red edge in shots through twenty minutes of play. Jon Salt set up a fight to the finish, notching his seventh of the season at 7:28 in the third (Vinny Santora) to finally put a smudge on Jon Cima’s clean sheet. Neither Perks (31/33), nor Cima (11/12) would budge from there out, and if your math is mathing correctly, you can see that Red prevailed in this thrilling edition of ‘The Perks-ness Stakes’, 2-1. So, an important outcome for both sides…with Red moving into the thick of the playoff pack at 2-2-1, and Royal Blue remaining cozied along the cut line at 1-3-1. Captain Teglia & Company now face a streak of bleak weeks, with 4-1-0 Pink this Sunday, followed by 2-2-1 Green, then 4-1-0 Neon. Red’s road to redemption is (on paper, at least) much smoother, with 2-3-0 Purple up next, and 1-3-1 White after the holiday break.

Captain Nick Meglich’s White finally earned a point in the standings with a 2-2 tie with basement buddies, Grey, in Week Four. While one point is better than none, Meglich & Company would need to start building on that lonely total in short order, or find themselves holding one of two short playoff straws come late July. Not the best time to line up against the only remaining undefeated side in Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s 4-0-0 Neon. Still, if ever there were an opportunity to topple a top dog, it would be this specific week, with Justin Hepler, Jim LaGrossa, and Pat Gladstone elsewhere (three players accounting for five goals and seven assists, coming in). Another twist…Captain Meglich himself would not be present, and the imposing form that is The Silencer™ would serve as surrogate shot-stopper. No team is in a ‘must win’ situation just yet, but this was a ‘really need to win’ situation at the very least for the winless wonders. Ryan Karns threw the first punch, punching his first of the season past Perks to give Neon a 1-0 lead at 8:32 in the first (Ramsey Ksar & Shelby Shattuck), but Rob Gaudio would punch back for White at 5:28 (Eric Willard), and Jerry Gonzales would serve as the ‘two’ in a one-two White combo, lacing home the go-ahead tally at 3:14. The Silencer™ himself was credited with the lone assist on the Gonzales goal…because we all needed that dude to start contributing offensively, FFS. ‘J-Gon’ would add a solo strike at 7:58 in the second, giving White the magic two goal lead that typically locks in a win with The Silencer™ backing your ranks. Up and coming young gun stud, Darin Cerasuolo, tested that ‘iron clad two goal lead’ adage with his fourth of the season at 4:54 in the third, but Perks (17/19) and White would hold on to secure their first win of the season, a 3-2 upstart upset over Neon. Chuck Bender (7/10) and Neon had finally suffered a loss, but can take the L with a rather sizeable grain of salt, given all of the aforementioned attendance asterisks. One win is by no means a saving grace for White, who will need to repeat the feat in a crucial Week Six battle with 2-3-0 Brown to finally find themselves clear of the cut line. Neon will welcome back The Albatross™ (Hepler), and should be considered HEAVY favorites against the only remaining winless team in the league (Grey) as the second half of the Summer 2025 season kicks off this Sunday.