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…