When you scrape into the playoffs as the bottom seed, your chances are slim, your hopes are low, and it’s probably best to view the playoffs as a few bonus games…a chance to get some extra elements and exercise. Competitive nature being what it is, however, Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green clearly had designs on turning their first such ‘bonus game’ into a statement shocker, keeping the Cup favorites on the cusp of a colossal coup until the final minute of play in a 4-2 loss. Week Two would prove whether Green gained any meaningful momentum (even in the moral victory/morale sense) from their Week One exploits, or whether Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange would bring their (mostly) dormant, but potentially dominant offense to bear in a kill or be killed second showdown. The sublime poetry of the SDFHL schedule being what it is, it was the Week Nine meeting between these two teams that produced the 2-2 tie that pushed Green into the playoffs in the first place. A first playoff win for Green would leave Orange in the Summer 2026 history book as both Green’s playoff table booster seat and eventual springboard beyond the first round of knockouts. Orange wasted little time ‘correcting’ any concept of that narrative, scoring four unanswered goals in the first to clearly establish that glass slippers are easily shattered (and, honestly…how painful would a glass shoe be, anyway). Justin Hepler opened the floodgates with an unassisted strike at 7:05, then followed with a second at 5:40 (Aaron Cooney & Jim LaGrossa). The baton was then passed to ‘The Other Justin’™, with Mr. Stege’s unassisted first of the game at 1:45 making it 3-0, and his second at 0:04 (Cooney) pushing the lead to four. The bleeding slowed, but was not completely staunched for Green in the second, as Jim LaGrossa added a fifth for Orange at 1:53 (Hepler), removing any lingering hopes of a stirring comeback. Cooney’s first of the playoffs at 7:00 in the third pushed the lead to half a dozen, which is about when I arrived at the rink to find a surprisingly loose and joyous Green bench. It was really great to see, honestly…a team that had struggled and scraped through a tough season, finally finding a will and a way to push into the playoffs in the final minutes of regular season play, now resigned to their two-and-out fate, but not letting defeat define them…just enjoying the final period of playing together, and rooting hard for at least ONE goal…one last hurrah. Ty Pereira provided that curtain call at 1:11 (Alex Rockoff & Jordan Pynn), finally answering the Orange spate, and serving up one last sniff of joy for Green in an otherwise futile and forgettable 6-1 loss. Matt Henderson (18/19) lost his shutout, but secured the win with another solid effort, while Gabe Davenport (15/21) shouldered a second straight loss to put an end to his first taste of playoff play. Green officially became the first playoff casualty, while Orange march on to face color neighbors, Neon, in the Losers’ Bracket this Sunday.

Stumbling and staggering into the second season as the seven seeds should not have inspired much more spirit and optimism in the ranks of Captain Bryan Ossa’s ‘Dookey Kong’ than Captain Nguyen’s Green coming into playoff play, but a rousing 3-2 last-minute takedown of second-seeded Pink in their opener had Brown thinking about a sneaky end-run to Cup glory. After all, Brown had now toppled number two Pink twice, and (attendance asterisk aside) boasted the only win by any team over top-seeded Purple. The rub…they also lost 6-3 in the regular season to both the four seeds, Blue, and the three seeds, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s Neon. The latter was up first on the ladder to the Cup Final, and Ossa & Company hoped for a better effort and a better result in the second go. As noted time and again in these recaps, there is nothing quite as devastating to a team as surrendering a last-second goal, and perhaps nothing as uplifting for the team that scores one. Josh Wirt did that very deed for Brown, finishing a breakaway chance at 0:01 (Matt Rogers) to shock Neon and put Brown in front first. A quick early second period response from Ryan Karns (9:16, from Joe Malki and Wendy Enright) had the favorites back on even footing, but (ironically) it was Karns’ ‘footing’ that would deflect Captain Ossa’s point shot home at 1:24 to push Brown back in front heading into the second break. Both teams pressed throughout the third, trading chances and generally keeping the Kalshi users among us on edge…even Josh Wirt’s second of the game at 4:44 (Ossa & Mark Nagy) did not feel like a ‘deal-sealer’ for Brown. Mason Holcomb (23/24) was a deal sealer, however, stopping all but one shot he faced to continue his (particularly) strong recently streak of play and preserve the 3-1 upset win for Brown. Don Tran (15/18) absorbed the loss for Neon, who suddenly find themselves flipped to the Losers’ Bracket to battle it out with yucky lower seeds. They will hope to bounce back, remain alive in the hunt, and avenge their 3-2 Week Four loss to Captain Jeremy Copp’s Orange this week, while upstart Brown look to shock the league and complete a 2-3-1 gauntlet to the Cup catbird seat if they can find a way past Purple.

So…dead horse and all, but surrendering a last-minute goal in the first or second period of a game…brutal. A last-minute goal that is also a game-winner for them and game-loser for you…devastating. A last-second goal…rare, but obviously an exponentially higher reading on the Gut Punch-O-Meter™. But…a last-second goal to lose a game and also eliminate you from playoff contention is quite another thing entirely…we are going to need a new O-Meter for that. So was written the fabulously unfortunate fate of Captain Lena Amelang’s Pink. After falling to Brown on a game-winning goal with 0:15 to play in their first playoff outing, the universe would up the heartbreak ante for ‘Kirby Enthusiasm’ with, yes, a LAST-SECOND SEASON ENDER against Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey. Actually, as tough to swallow as a buzzer beating bye bye may be, Pink’s path in this one was even more pathetic. Kalen Hunter returned to scoring form at 5:39 in the first (Captain Siemer), but Pink quickly equalized (Steve Goncalo from Brennen Abel at 3:37), and ultimately wrested away the lead (Eric Willard from Abel at 1:36) to put the favorites in favored position heading into the second. A scoreless second (another ‘scoreless second’), meant an all-the-marbles third, and Kalen shot (and scored) first again to knot the score at 2-2 with an unassisted second of the game with 5:22 to play. Captain Amelang was next to act, picking an absolutely perfect time to pot her second goal in as many playoff games (after registering zero points otherwise, all season). The Captain’s strike at 4:27 (Scott Wieland & Abel) could hardly have felt decisive at the time, but as the clock wound towards 0:00, the second seeds must have felt a swelling swell of vindication from their shocking late loss the Sunday prior. Shocking late loss, you say (well…I type)? With just 1:02 on the clock…Grey’s John Kushneryk completely rips off Pink’s late loss scab with a stunner to tie it at three apiece (Kevin Hunter). Unreal…another reversal of fortune on the very verge of victory for Pink. At least they could rest easy knowing that the score was merely tied, and with the clock finding it’s way to 0:01, surely they would find a way to persevere and prevail in over ti…OMFG! Steve P Linke…posted up back door…Kalen Hunter circling and cycling with the ball, a gaggle of defenders drawn…pass…shot…GOAL! ONE SECOND left…Linke from Kalen Hunter and Sean Kelly to absolutely gobsmack Pink and smack them out of the playoff picture with a ghastly 4-3 stunner. Pink’s entire season…down in flames, really putting the F-U in FortUne with perhaps the heartbreakingest combined 1:17 of choking chaos over their very abbreviated two-and-out dead end run. Mason Holcomb (10/13) collected the win in Jon Cima’s stead, while Chuck Bender (12/16) must bear the brunt of the Pink nightmare in his brain for the coming month with the offseason now thrust upon him and his mates. The crazy coup pushes Grey onward in the Loser’s Bracket to face the four seeds, Blue, who smashed them in convincing 6-2 fashion back in Week Four. Captain Eli Schonbrun & Company would do well to temper confidence and expectation in the rematch, though…even if they should find themselves with a late lead this Sunday….

Captain William Teglia and his (heavy) Cup favorite Purple sought to serve further evidence that they were/are the ‘team of destiny’ that Pink most certainly were not, riding their 7-1-0 regular season record and an opening round win over Green into battle against Captain Eli Schonbrun’s Blue. Teglia & Company certainly had their way with Blue in the Week Five regular season meeting, prevailing 4-1 in spite of Trevor Vick’s absence, but the playoffs are (or, at least should be) a different animal, and this postseason was proving as well (or better) as others that upsets can and will happen. Brendan Jew wrote the first line in that flipped script with his third of the playoffs at 5:31 in the first (Jason Lee), but it was Trevor Vick making his post season presence felt where his regular season absence was not with the tying tally at 1:50 (Owen Perks). Perks would push Purple in front for the first time at 5:08, with The Vick Boys™ (Trevor and Tim, in that order) providing the set up on the go-ahead goal. By all accounts, including those at Kelly’s this week, and further supported by the close shot count (15-13 in Purple’s favor, at game’s end), this was a VERY good game…highly competitive, clean, and well-played by both sides from start to finish. There would be no late heroics, and no last-second let down in this one, though, as Will Heinl (12/13) and Purple would hold strong to best Blue 2-1 to advance to the Winners’ Bracket Final. The loss relegates Blue to the repêchage (a vocab word I only learned from, and only ever hear during the Summer Olympics), where John Kushneryk (13/15) will face his own substitute in nets as he patrols the blue line for his other team, Grey. A close game against a strong Blue side is one thing, but Purple certainly seem poised to stick the landing on their consistently dominant season-long death march. They will look to avenge their one and only loss (a short-staffed 3-2 fall to Brown in Week One) this Sunday, and should they take care of business and reserve the sitting position in the Final, it is hard to imagine any other team rising up to beat them in back-to-back battles come August 23rd.

The regular season match between Captain Ryan Karns’ Purple and Captain Mark Nagy’s Orange was…weird. Purple was without Papa Cerasuolo and his rising superstar son, Darin, while Orange was without Eric Willard and their own father son duo of Kevin Hunter and (already-risen superstar) son, Kalen. The game was VERY close, owing in huge part to another huge effort from Orange netminder, Nick Meglich. Meglich stopped 30/31 Purple shots, setting up Parsa Mostafavi to steal the deal with a go-ahead goal with 0:06 to play, then an empty-net icer with 0:01 to go. Needless to say, Purple needed no further motivation than a 3-1 loss in which they outshot their opponent 31-11 to continue their underdog railroad to the Final, and with nearly everyone present and accounted for on both sides for the big rematch (Orange with perfect attendance, and Purple without Brendan Jew, and with Wendy Enright subbing for Leah Gonzales), the stage was set for a rousing second round set-to. Darin Cerasuolo made his presence felt almost immediately, cashing in at 8:40 in the first (Jason Lee & Captain Karns), then closing out the first frame with a second at 1:04 (Pat Gladstone & Karns). It was more offense from the regular season match absentees, as Eric Willard logged Orange’s first response at 7:05 (Kalen Hunter & Jenna Chercoe), DC completed his hat trick and restored Purple’s two goal edge at 2:24 (Lee & Geoff Downes), and Kalen Hunter cut the lead back to one at 1:31 (Willard). Chercoe continued her run of hot play, drawing Orange level at 8:19 in the third (Willard & Kalen Hunter) and Weston Nawrocki gave Orange their first lead at 2:33 (Kevin Hunter) before Carl Vankoughnett played messiah for Purple with the equalizer on the powerplay at 0:22 (Downes & Karns). A scoreless OT period bled past, and for once (perhaps the first time all season…I’d have to check…but I’m lazy) Meglich actually faced fewer shots (20) than his counterpart (Chuck Bender faced 30). So, for the second straight game in the Fall 2025 playoff run…shootout. Young DC…no goal. Kalen…goal. Downes, Willard, Vankoughnett, Nagy, Lee…all turned away, then Mark Daquipa…converts to ice it, 5-4 Orange over Purple in shootout. Wendy Enright and Jenna Chercoe were relieved of shooting duties, and Orange was (once again) relieved to have slipped past a plucky and persistent Purple. Chuck Bender (26/30 – 2/4) shouldered the loss, while Nick Meglich (16/20 – 4/4) was (for once) provided with some offensive support in the hard fought win. Purple must regroup and get right (or go out) against Gold this Sunday, while Orange have one more hurdle to…well…hurdle, Captain Boddy’s Blue, with hopes of staking their space in the Final.

The Week Two focus shifted to the Losers’ Bracket for an elimination match between Captain Hima Joshi’s Gold and Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. Joshi & Company were pleased to have the company of Owen Perks and Vance Morra this time around, both of whom were out of the line up in Green’s 4-2 win in the regular season meeting, and with Chris Fiore and Evan Melcher back on the blueline after a shootout loss to Blue the Sunday prior, Gold’s hopes of a big ‘best served cold’ revenge win were hot and ready. Captain Bao was out once again, and it would be up to (all of) the rest of his mates to ensure that Green would not bow out in one-two fashion. Owen Perks is…really good at hockey, and he opened the scoring in this one in solo style at 6:15 in the first. Mark DeGraffenreid slapped home a second Gold goal at 7:16 in the second (Shelby Shattuck & Greg Francisco), and Gold would carry a 2-0 lead into the final period of play in a close, back and forth match that saw the sides generate nearly matching shot totals (13-12, in Green’s favor, through two). Green ramped up the intensity in the third, but it was Gold getting on the board again next with Perks sniping home his second (DeGraffenreid & Francisco), then Chris Fiore putting the game all but out of reach at 4:05 (DeGraffenreid & Vance Morra). Mason Holcomb (22/23) was superb, and very nearly perfect…were it not for a sublime wrister from William Teglia with 2:11 to go (Jon Zygelman & Janet Goins). John Kushneryk (16/20) wrapped a very solid first season in nets with another strong effort, but Perks & Friends were just too much for Green in the playoff payoff…a 4-1 redemption win for Gold. Captain Nguyen’s gang became the first casualty of the Fall League 2025 playoffs, while Captain Joshi’s side survive to see another Sunday…strangely enough as the higher seed in a battle to the (playoff) death with Captain Karns’ Purple.

Captain Luke Wolmer’s ‘Into Darkness’ was (fittingly) an absolute black hole through their first six regular season games…sucking in one unfortunate opponent after the next, and spaghettifying (<==this is a real word, folks!) each in turn on their way to a 6-0-0 mark. Since that glorious apex in early November, teams managed to put some ‘woe’ in Wolmer, serving back-to-back setbacks to Black before a bounce back win in their regular season wrap kept them safe and sound as the top playoff seed at 7-2-0. That little taste of late season ‘woe’ turned to ‘whoa!’ in Week One of playoff action, with bottom-seeded Purple smacking down the once overwhelming favorites 5-1, and sending them shocked and spiraling down to the Losers’ Bracket. Captain Rob Gaudio’s White was a bit more accustomed to ups and downs, finishing the season at 4-3-2, but found themselves down, and on the verge of out along with their chromatic counterparts after a 6-3 loss to Orange in their opener. So…it would be over for one of these overseeds, and with perfect attendance on both sides (!), there would be no excuses for either side for being excused from the playoffs at this point. A scoreless first saw very balanced shot totals (6-5, in Black’s favor), and while White held a one shot edge (9-8) in the second, it was Black making more of their shots count. Wasif Hussain scored his first career SDFHL playoff goal at 8:03 (TK Mason & Riley Mann)…in fact his first ever career SDFHL goal…CONGRATULATIONS, WASIF! Tim Vick doubled the damage at 7:20 (Trevor Vick & Tom Darlington), before Captain Gaudio slashed the lead back to one at 5:57 (Jackson Tomaszewski & Mark Scelfo). Trevor Vick would restore Black’s two goal edge at 3:34 in the second (Tim Vick & Hussain), then open the third period scoring, and really open up a lead for Black with 8:23 to play (Janice Darlington). Will Heinl (17/18) held strong in nets down the stretch, and a second (game and career) goal from Hussain at 0:28 (Tom Darlington) tied a neat bow on a big bounce back 5-1 win for Black. Jon Cima (15/20) suffered the loss for White, who joined Green (and Red and Lime, of course) on the playoff sidelines. As the twisted irony of the playoff bracket would have it, Black must now grapple with a very tough three-seeded Teal, while the other Losers’ Bracket matchup will feature #7 Gold v #8 Purple. This could be the end of the line for the regular season champs, but if they survive the absolute thresher that is Alex Giummo, this writer at least will restore Black’s ‘favorite to win it all’ status…

That aforementioned ‘thresher’ was ready for another ‘thresh sesh’ (as the kids…in my head say…like, all the time), as Alex Giummo, Captain Copp, and the rest of Teal crew looked to build on their own six game winning streak against Captain John Boddy’s Blue. The happy little coincidences in any given SDFHL season schedule never cease to tickle me, and the fact that Teal’s last loss came against Blue (3-2) back in Week Five of the regular season added an extra splash of zest to what was already a spicy rematch. Giummo was held to just one goal (indeed, just one point!) in that first meeting, which is crazy, considering he has since scored, or assisted on nearly every Teal tally since. Chris Tran and Blue’s blue line would need to repeat that fantastic feat when it ‘really counts’, or Giummo would surely power Teal to a seventh straight, and lead them to the doorstep of destiny in the Winners’ Bracket Final. The first period came and went without a wrinkle in twine, but Shelby Shattuck (filling in for sister, Elyse) finally broke the seal for Blue at 7:10 in the second (Eli Schonbrun). Enter Giummo, who tied it with his 457th (feels like it, anyway) at 3:59 (Arnold Gonzalez), then gave Teal their first lead with his 458th at 0:17 Jeffrey Henderson & Andy Strathman). If you haven’t been keeping up on all of the SDFHL story lines, you might not know that this is Captain Boddy’s final run before he jets off to sunny Portland. Never accuse this man of lacking a flare for the poetic/dramatic…it was Boddy to knot it at 2-2 at 9:09 in the third (Tony Thinh), then Boddy to win it…short-handed…with just twenty-one ticks left in regulation (Sean Kelly)…wow! Schonbrun heaved a sigh of relief jumping out of the sin bin to celebrate the stunning 3-2 win with Chris Tran (22/24) and his mates, who move on to a showdown with Orange with a seat at the Final table on the line. It seems six is the limit on win streaks this season, with Teal’s winning thread snapping on the seventh pull just like Black’s regular season run. Captain Copp, Matt Henderson (14/17) and ‘The Thresher’ will need to regroup and start a new win streak starting this Sunday against a likewise down, but far from out Black.

A rousing 5-3 Week Four win over Brown had Captain William Teglia’s Royal Blue (finally) in the win column, and (presumably) proved that a playoff pulse was present with plenty of points still possible in the pending pentad of play dates. Tough, tight losses to Red (2-1) and Pink (3-2) in the ensuing weeks made the big win over Brown feel much more like a death rattle than a rallying point, and the ‘Salt Scores, Silas Saves’ strategy that seemed so sound from the start was now strained to the point of snapping. Still, a second win in Week Seven over Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green would bring Royal Blue back into the thick of the playoff pack, and leave them with a considerably improved projection and sense of purpose heading into the final two weeks of play. Green came in on a two game slide of their own, having lost 6-3 to Pink in Week Five, then 2-1 to Baby Blue in Week Six…a game that should have been a blowout, and would have been a blowout with anyone but an absolutely possessed Sean Kelly in nets (37/39). So, two teams in increasing need of a course correction, two of the top goal scorers in the league in Brennen Abel (8) and Jon Salt (8), and a goalie matchup for the ages with ‘Da Kid’™ opposite ‘The Silencer’™…GO! You can’t spell ‘Goncalo’ without ‘GO’, and the veteran forward (and Pope stunt double) put Green in front at 1:01 in the first. Brennen Abel doubled Green’s lead with a gut punch goal with just four ticks remaining in the first (Captain Nguyen)…the required (and usually rewarding) second strike against The Silencer™. The rare (and often required) third strike against The Silencer™ came at 2:32 in the second, with Goncalo pumping home another unassisted belt notch to push Green to a 3-0 lead. Gordon Schmidt finally answered for Royal Blue less than two minutes later, but with the shot count at 21-9 in Green’s favor through two, and a keyed up Kelly keeping the crease at the other end, it would take more than a shake of Salt to save Royal Blue from a third straight loss. That shake would come, with Salt cutting the lead to one with 3:42 to play (Tony Thinh & Captain Teglia), but Da Kid™ (17/19) would hold on to outduel The Silencer™ (30/33) in an important 3-2 win for Green, and an equally devastating loss for Royal Blue. The win moves Captain Nguyen’s Green to 3-3-1, and finds them tucked cozily in the middle of the pack and almost (actually, quite likely definitely) in playoff position with remaining games against a resurgent Brown (4-3-0) and a gasping Grey (1-4-2). Captain Teglia & Company will either need to find more ‘secondary scoring’ (Salt accounts for 9/15 team goals, with one of the remaining six goals coming courtesy of super sub, Jenna Chercoe), or hope that the ‘Salt Scores, Silas Saves’ strategy will pay off when it counts with a gnarly 5-2-0 Neon up next, and a down and desperate White waiting in Week Nine.

Said ‘down and desperate’ White was next to take a turn at trying to turn their trajectory, coming into their match against Captain Wendy Enright’s ‘Gilda Redner’ at a woeful and wanting 1-4-1. That’s a tough record through any lens, but White could either choose to take hope or lose heart in just how close each of those four losses were to a productive point (or two) in the standings. Week One…a 2-0 loss to Purple with Jerry Gonzales out of the lineup. Week Two…a 3-2 loss to a potent Pink, with Boddy’s game-winner coming with 3:05 to play. Week Three…a 4-1 loss to Green…obviously overmatched in this one. Week Four…a 2-2 tie with Grey. Week Five…a stunning 3-2 coup over Neon. Week Six…a rollercoaster 4-3 loss to Brown. So, one tie, one narrow win, and three narrow losses, but never ‘enough’ to string together positive results and paste together a playoff push…probably not the best Sunday to face a peaking, Perks-powered Red. Enright & Company came in riding a 2-0-1 streak, having improved their overall record to 3-2-1 after a slow start, and with perfect attendance and eyes on the punched playoff ticket prize, it would take all the heroics Captain Meglich could muster, a few timely strikes, and perhaps a little luck for White to survive against the heavy favorites. Trevor Vick wasted little time putting Red in front, sending his second of the season home at 8:23 (Captain Enright & Tim Vick) just 0:13 prior to being whistled for the rarest of minor penalties…carrying two sticks. It was Andy Strathman whose stick Vick was (innocently and thoughtfully) retrieving back in the first, and Strathman’s stick (now in full control of its owner) doing the damage on the powerplay at 1:18 (Jon Zygelman & Owen Perks) with a shelf snipe from the point to make it 2-0 Red through two. Captain Meglich was almost certainly reminding his team during the second intermission that this game was still very much in reach, and even very much more vital to their season survival. Meglich’s mates, sappy sports movie lovers, and long shot bettors with big money on White could hope for a third period rally, but statistics can be sobering, and with just eleven goals to show for twenty periods of play, the odds of White churning out two to tie or three to top in ten minutes of play were, well…very long. Jon Zygelman made those long odds even longer at 8:20 (Perks & Strathman), and when Payam Sazegar scores his second career goal in 107 career games, you know your coffin is well and truly nailed shut. Sazegar’s goal was a pretty one, for sure, completing a nifty tic-tac-toe combo from Zygelman and Perks at 2:59 to build Red’s lead to four. Trevor Vick would then close the scoring that he opened back in the first, recording his second of the game and third of the season at 1:49 (Papa Vick & Captain Enright) to cap a convincing 5-0 Red win, and leave White lurching into the final two weeks of play in near-literal ‘must win’ mode. As seems to often be the case, Jon Cima (7/7) had a damn-near-relaxing ride to his fourth win of the season, while Captain Meglich (21/26) was very overworked and (obviously) under-supported in a fifth loss the finds White just steps from the playoff scrap heap. This Sunday could very well see White slide still closer to a bitter end, with Captain Rob LaVigne’s 5-2-0 Baby Blue waiting to lay waste to a lame and limping opponent. Amazingly enough, a sixth loss would not eliminate Meglich & Company, with both Royal Blue and Grey still wallowing nearby, and the former on the schedule for the final game of the season…you just have to love the SDFHL schedule gods.

After an inspired (and surprising) 3-0 first win of their season over previously-unbeaten Baby Blue in Week Three, Captain Sean Bathgate’s Brown fell back down with an equally surprising loss to previously-winless Royal Blue in Week Four. Taking solace from the fact that they had already faced the league’s top three teams in Pink, Neon, and Baby Blue, Bathgate & Company looked to mount a midseason rise to playoff safety. Wins over Purple and White had their record even at 3-3-0, and had them poised to put the finishing touches on their playoff security in a Week Seven showdown with Captain Tyler Winstead’s Grey. A lack of scoring punch to the tune of just eight goals in the six games coming in was clearly the primary root of Grey’s 1-3-2 start, with a tie for third worst goals against (18) serving as the yucky yin to that yucky yang (yes, I get that yin and yang are supposed to be diametric opposites…save it). The good news for Winstead & Company was that the team sharing that third worst goals against was warming up across from them as the two sides prepared for the Week Seven middle game. A scoreless first bled into a strange second, with both teams controlling the ball in the offensive zone for minutes at a time. One particular such push for Brown lasted OVER FOUR MINUTES! Somewhere in that feast or famine chaos, a Mark DeGraffenreid (slow and steady) point shot found twine behind Don Tran to finally break the scoring seal and give Brown a 1-0 lead (7:29 from Chris Tran and Josh Wirt). With the shot totals in near lock step, and the zone/possession time tipping back and forth wildly, it was definitely ‘anyone’s game’ going into the third. Erin Plone decided she’d like to be that ‘anyone’, persisting on a rebound series in front at 6:26 (Josh Wirt & John Kushneryk) to cash in her first of the season and lower the collective pulse of her Brown mates. The clock wound ever onward in Brown’s favor, and a Wirt’s league-leading tenth of the season off a steal/breakaway with 0:41 would put the game out of reach for good for Grey. While the rest of the Brown bench was happy to be locked in for the win, Wirt decided to pull the ultimate hockey jinx no-no and state (out loud) ‘let’s get the shutout’…Jordan Pynn from Captain Winstead and Josh Tran maybe ten seconds later at 0:07….bruh! Matt Henderson (18/19) was his standard sharp self in the 3-1 Brown win, which (along with other results on the evening) officially locks Bathgate’s Bunch into August play. Don Tran (17/20) shouldered another Grey loss that drops them to 1-4-2, JUST above the cut line with two games to play. Amazingly enough, just one win in their final two games (Week Eight against Purple, then Week Nine against Green) may be enough to book playoff passage for Grey, but even two losses would not necessarily eliminate them! If Grey, Royal Blue, and White all lose this Sunday, and Grey loses and Royal Blue and White tie in Week Nine, we would have three teams at 1-6-2…with only ties between all three teams head to head! That would drop us all the way to the ‘goal differential’ tie breaker, which currently favors Royal Blue (-7), followed by White (-11), then Grey (-12). Of course, that combination of losses and a tie is not super likely but…intriguing, none the less. At 4-3-0, Brown have only improved playoff seeding on their agenda as they face off against Green this Sunday, and Red the following.

The penultimate Week Seven match was one of power on power, with Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s 4-2-0 Neon taking on Captain Rob LaVigne’s 5-1-0 Baby Blue. With Captain LaVigne himself out of the lineup with an undisclosed lower body injury (well, I supposed I just disclosed it), and a surprisingly stat-tacular Bryan Ossa (4 and 2) on the shelf for the remainder of the season, Neon were seen as slight favorites in this one. Ryan Karns’ absence tipped things back Baby Blue’s way a skosh, but the return of Neon’s true superstar, Pat Gladstone, was more than enough to make up the difference. Obviously, neither team had any more in this game beyond bragging rights and playoff posturing, but it is always good to ‘measure’ your team against other strong teams, especially in Neon’s case. Their two losses this season came back-to-back coming into Week Seven — a pair of 3-2 losses to two of the lowest teams in the league. Those two straight Neon losses stood as the only win on the season for both White and Grey, and served as notice to Vankoughnett & Company to respect and be fully prepared for any opponent, regardless of records/expected outcomes. Will Heinl was first to act, completing a series from Kevin Hunter and Gary Peters to give Baby Blue the lead at 4:32 in the first. Young super stud, Darin Cerasuolo, was quick to respond, leveling the ledger just nineteen seconds later (Mary Nagy) with his sixth of the season. Luke Wolmer would restore the Baby Blue lead at 7:51 in the second (Leah Gonzales & Heinl), but the rest of that middle stanza belonged entirely to Neon. Justin ‘The Albatross’™ Hepler tied the score with his fourth of the season (Nagy), Captain Vankoughnett gave Neon their first lead of the game at 4:14, and Jim LaGrossa’s second of the season with 1:32 to play iced a big bounce back 4-2 win for Neon, drawing them level with their fallen rivals atop the standings at 5-2-0. The loss is the first of the season for Chris Tran (16/20), with Baby Blue’s only other loss coming against…Chris Tran and Brown 🙂 Chuck Bender (11/13) and Neon steady themselves with the win, and keep themselves in prime position to capture the top seed going into the final weeks of play. Vankoughnett & Company share first place with Baby Blue, whom they have just beaten (if you have any measure of reading comprehension at all) and Pink, whom they will face in their regular season finale. Baby Blue warp their season against a woeful (but…super desperate) White, then a mid AF (as the kids say) Purple. So, a chance to play spoiler, and a definite chance at that top spot for LaVigne & Company, but they will be rooting for Pink against Neon, having beaten the former and now lost to the latter.

With Parkageddon™ in full swing earlier in the slate thanks to the 500th youth soccer tournament of the year, games were running well behind by the time the ball dropped on the nightcap between Captain Mason Holcomb’s Purple, and Captain John Boddy’s Pink. Pink came in riding high at 5-1-0, but with Captain Boddy out of the lineup, and all of the major weapons and defenses in place for Purple, this game had a decent level of upset potential. Slowing the roll on that storyline considerably was the fact that Holcomb & Company came into Week Seven play as THE coldest team in the league. Three consecutive losses (2-1 to Neon, 4-1 to Brown, and 3-2 to Red) had shifted Purple from 2-1-0 to 2-4-0, and a fourth straight L would keep them in cut line peril with just four points going into the final two weeks of play. Chris Malki put the redemption plan in motion with his second of the season at 2:10 in the first (Shawna Hamon) and a scoreless second meant that his goal would remain alone and lonely into a winner take all third. Pink can typically rely on plenty of ‘secondary scoring’, with Jackson Tomaszewski (5 and 8) and Geoff Downes (5 and 3) as the likeliest sources, but those sources could not find a way to produce in their captain’s absence, and Purple capitalized with some ‘secondary scoring’ of their own in the third. Zach Siemer’s third of the season finally gave Purple some breathing room with 8:00 to play (Chris Malki), and Shawna Hamon snatched POTW honors with her first of the season at 3:10 (Steve Linke and Joe Malki), then her second of the game/season into an empty net at 1:00 (Chris Malki). Hamon’s 2 and 1 turn, combined with Captain Holcomb’s 16/16 sparkler meant a huge 4-0 upset win for Purple, moving them to six points and relative playoff safety going into late July. The loss was just Pink’s second of the season, and the first on the season for Will Heinl (17/20). As with Chris Tran, his team’s only prior loss came at the hands of his ‘other team’ (although, Will was not in the lineup for either team in that Week Four matchup). Holcomb & Company will hope to avoid the same upset fate that they dished out to Pink when they meet with Grey this Sunday. A win would put them in, while a loss would leave them in a dangerous position, especially given that Baby Blue await them on July 27th. The loss is of little real concern for Pink, especially with the asterisk provided by the absence of their super star captain. A missed opportunity to regain sole possession of first place, and slightly dampened hopes to end up on the top of the pile come month’s end are about the extent of the damage to what is still a clear Cup contender.

Folks…I am out on vacation through the end of the month. Carl has graciously volunteered to handle all of my web site and Thursday Night Hockey duties. Please contact him with any questions/complaints/kudos…I will see you all in August!