Awkward Position

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.