Captain Josh Tran’s Orange had already squeezed themselves back into the playoff picture with back to back 5-2 wins over Black and Olive, and a win over Grey in Week Nine would all but complete their transition from dead and gone to alive and kicking in the playoff mix. Grey entered Week Nine heading the opposite direction, having dropped their previous two games to Blue and Yellow, and finding themselves way too close to the cut line for comfort. So…high stakes in this penultimate fixture for both sides, but as is often the case in this league when two teams REALLY want a win…neither of them gets it. Eric Willard put Grey on top with just 0:34 remaining in the first, with the lone assist coming from Captain Zach Siemer, and Andrew Jacobsen responded early in the second for Orange (from Jackson Tomaszewski) to keep the tension on ten going into the third. Willard’s second of the night (from Rob LaVigne and Tom Darlington) put Grey back on top with 7:27 to play, but Captain Tran had an answer on the power play at 3:12 (from Justin Stege) to knot the score for good at 2-2, and send both teams home with a point, a half-consoling-half-congratulatory pat on the back, and a slightly improved chance to persevere to playoff pastures. Matt Henderson (25/27) faced nearly twice the heat at his end, with his mates mustering just fourteen shots against Jimm Reifsnyder in the absence of the vital likes of Kalen Hunter and Dan Soar. Grey find themselves at 2-3-3 (seven points), and Orange now sit at 2-4-2 (six points). While I have not run all of the possibilities through our SDFHL super computer, I believe that both teams can still miss the playoffs, depending on how the final four games of the season pan out. Of particular importance, of course, is how the two fare in their respective finales, with both teams controlling their own destiny (win, and most definitely in…tie, and almost assuredly in…loss…start hoping). The rub, both teams face hungry/desperate five point teams, with Grey facing off against Black, and Orange capping the season slate against suddenly-wakened White.

The ‘big hurricane’ was something of a fizzle for most of San Diego county, but there was definitely enough rain to wash the Week Eight slate to the end of the regular season schedule. For Captain Ian Crooks’ Black, this meant that their not-at-all-anticipated meeting with Olive would not be one last chance to salvage their sinking season, but rather a ‘let’s hope for a miracle win to ease our minds going into a finale against Grey’ foray. Captain Crooks & Company came out frenetic (yet focused), but ultimately fizzled, and had to take the ‘whip’ in lieu of the ‘miracle’ (I have officially resorted to mayonnaise puns, ladies and gents). Kyle Snyder tucked home a juicy rebound to make it 1-0 Olive late in the first (from Nick Vacchio), and Vacchio cashed in on the power play at 3:19 in the second to make it 2-0 (from Shelby Shattuck and Greg Wirth). Mark Nagy cut that lead in half, and gave the Black bench a big boost with just ten ticks remaining in the middle period, but Vacchio (from Snyder) quickly snuffed that spark, restoring Olive’s two goal edge just over a minute into the third. A pair of goals for Alexis DaCosta (the first from Vacchio and Wendy Enright, and the second from Snyder and Captain Tyler Winstead) put any hopes of a comeback coup out of the question for Black. Don Tran (33/34) continued to crush Olive opponents’ hopes and dreams, keeping Black’s desperate attack at bay throughout, while Chuck Bender (13/18) could only hope for more ‘run support’ while facing nearly half the shot volume at the other end. The 5-1 Olive win was far more lopsided than the run of play would have predicted, but Captain Winstead’s side now find themselves deadlocked at 6-1-1 with Teal, whom the scheduling (and weather) fates would (of course) find a way to match up in the final week of play (surreal). What precious little margin for error Black had coming into Week Nine is out the window now. They must prevail over Grey in their finale, and even then will need some help to find their way into mid-September play.

Yellow and Red met in the middle of the Week Nine set for the only game in which both teams had already clinched a playoff berth. Both Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘Yelloooow, Newman’ and Captain Geoff Downes’ ‘Little Cherry Seinfeld’ found bounce back wins in Week Seven, giving them eight and nine points, respectively, so this game provided a lull in the tension and desperation of the surrounding games. Jon Salt made his triumphant return to Red’s lineup, and made his presence felt with a solo strike just three minutes in. Brennan Abel saw that solo strike, and raised with two of his own to turn the tables in Yellow’s favor, 2-1 through one. Christopher Fiore brought Red back level (from Salt and Kevin Dinino), and both Silas’ sub, Chris Tran (20/22), and Jon Cima (7/9) would hold the line from there to lock in a 2-2 deadlock. Now at ten points (3-1-4), Red cannot improve from their current three seed position, and can only move down to fourth if they fail to beat Blue and Yellow beats Purple. Yellow (4-3-1) can only move up to the three seed (by way of the very scenario I just laid out), but cannot move down even if Blue or Grey tie them in points, as they would still have a higher win total. So, it will be another rather meaningless game for both teams next week from their perspective, but both teams are being counted on by the likes of Black, White, and Purple to play spoiler to their desperate rivals. As such, most of the interest in these games will be coming from the unfortunate teams around or below the cut line…I personally have my Red and Yellow fight flags ready to fly…

The sunset brought a shift back to serious second season striving, as two five point teams battled to find a backdoor out of the basement. Captain Rob Gaudio’s Blue had tight tussles with even the two top teams over the previous four games, but did not quite have enough, losing 1-0 to both Olive and Teal. Wedged between those results were a disappointing 1-1 tie with White, and a much-needed 3-1 win over Grey. Captain Sev Brown’s Purple really hadn’t found their footing yet in a mainly down, sometimes up 2-4-1 coming in. Two points could not put the worries away for either team, but the winner of this game would find themselves very much in the driver’s seat going into the final week of play. Tim Hamon put Blue in that seat four and a half minutes in (from John Gamm), Zach Salt pumped Blue’s brakes with an unassisted effort at 1:48, and Josh Wirt (from Shawna Hamon) revved Blue back to a one goal lead with just 0:37 to play in the first. Captain Gaudio built Blue’s lead to two at 2:43 in the second (from Wirt and Tim Hamon), and that would hold on as the game-winner, with Salt (from Captain Brown and Luke Wolmer) and Gaudio (from Wirt) cancelling each other’s output in the third. Chris Tran (15/17) backstopped the big Blue 4-2 win, while Chuck Bender (7/11) could not find enough stopping power to prevent a loss in the absence of Syd Costello. As noted (ad nauseam) in the earlier recaps, the Week Eight makeup games on September 10th are massive for both of these teams. A single point against Red for Blue will guarantee them a playoff perch, and even a loss might not spell disaster. Purple will need a win and a dash of help to guarantee a spot, but one point would be big, and they can even get in with a loss, provided both Black and White lose. It’s going to be a CRAZY, convoluted Sunday for all but the top four teams…buckle up!

It really pains me when the play in this league devolves into chirpy, chippy, cheap shot chicanery. We have had a good run of good play, featuring good sportsmanship and good will of late, but…then came the Teal v White Week Nine nightcap. Teal came in with very little to prove, undefeated at 6-0-1, and primed to claim the top playoff seed with a win against woeful White, and anything but a loss to Olive in their finale. Captain Sean Bathgate’s team, by contrast, entered at 1-5-1, dripping with desperation, and needing a minor miracle against Teal and a good result in their finale against Orange to have any hope of staying off the playoff scrap heap. So, some ‘heat’ was to be expected in this one, but all accounts have this game slathered in shame, with possible suspensions looming, and a ‘Spirit Of The League’ refresher clearly required. Some actual hockey events took place between the wrestling and whining, as Mostafa Azab put the underdogs on top at 7:43 (from Will Heinl and Sally Jackson). Joe Nguyen evened the score just twenty-nine ticks later (from Joel Gattey), but Joe Malki put White back on top, then padded that lead with a pair of late period strikes (one from Papa Malki, and the other from Azab and Papa Malki). David Schlatter cut the lead back to one with the only goal of the second period (from Nguyen), but that was as close as the heavy favorites would get to maintaining their L-less season. Emily Bennington (from Chris Malki and Brandon Olsen) had White breathing easy again with her third of the season in the third, and the ‘minor miracle’ was realized, 4-2 woeful White over titan Teal. The shocking result keeps White alive to the bitter end, but they will need to take at least a point from Orange, and get some help elsewhere, or that bitter end will merely have been delayed. Teal will no doubt recover just fine from this flesh wound, and it may provide a little extra motivation for Captain Ryan Karns & Company in their final showdown with Olive.

Yellow and Grey met to open Week Seven in a middle-of-the-standings battle that could be either a springboard or a trapdoor for both teams. Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘Yellooow, Newman’ had righted the ship after an 0-2-0 start, rattling off three straight wins before falling to Teal 5-2 in Week Six. Captain Zach Siemer’s ‘Graymerica Industries’ had tread a very uneven path coming in, never having strung together so much as two of the same result, but weaving a cool pattern in the process (W-T-L-W-T-L). The pattern failed them in this case, as they fell through the trapdoor and into playoff peril, while Yellow sprung to reasonable safety in a wild, and somewhat controversial 3-1 win. Grey looked great out of the gate, with Kalen Hunter snapping the first shot of the game over Jon Cima’s shoulder at 9:45 to put his team on top 1-0 (from Rob LaVigne). That would be the only goal of the first, and Scott Wieland would record the only goal of the second to bring things level (from Captain Vankoughnett and Brennan Abel). Abel lofted a lazy ball out of his defensive zone, but managed to put it on net. This negated an icing call, but also (somehow) happened to slip through the pads of Matt Henderson to give Yellow a 2-1 lead. With just 3:36 to play, Grey pressed for the tie, and it looked as though a deflected/seeing-eye shot MAY have found the back bar and out just a minute or so after Yellow’s go ahead strike, but…it was ruled no goal and play continued. Grey had another goal disallowed in the second, after the referee blew the whistle, having lost sight of the (still loose) ball. Goals on the scoreboard are the only ones that count, though, and the scoreboard still read 2-1 in favor of Yellow into the waning seconds of the third. Mason LaGrossa used those waning seconds to net an empty netter, rounding out the scoring, and sending Grey to their first ‘streak’ of any kind…a two game losing streak. Captain Siemer’s crew now find themselves at 2-3-2, just one point ahead of a hungry pack of four teams with five points apiece. They are very much in control of their own destiny, though, with games against two of those four teams to close out the regular season (Black and Orange). A win against either team, or points in both should certainly be enough to punch their playoff ticket. Yellow’s 4-3-0 has them sitting in fourth place, all but assured of a spot in the playoffs, and primed to play spoiler for Purple in Week Eight, and potentially improve their postseason position in their finale versus Red.

John Boddy, David Schlatter, Sean Kelly…the current silver medalist in the scoring race, a perennial score-at-will terror, and the league’s long standing king of goaliedom…all three of these players, plus Joel Gattey and Janet Goins out of the lineup for Teal against Blue in Week Seven. Blue had attendance woes of their own (Captain Rob Gaudio, Bryan Ossa, and a suspended Janine Ulloa), but (with respect), it’s hard to compare to the missing Teal pieces, and it was hard to imagine Captain Ryan Karns’ team finding a way to overcome this significant star power shortage. A scoreless first had Teal hopeful, but Blue had to believe that tired legs would keep their opponent from finding a way out of this match alive. There was still plenty of pep in Joe Nguyen’s step at 6:15 in the second, as he found a hole in Chris Tran’s pads to put Teal in the driver’s seat, 1-0. Nick Meglich (24/24) did his best ‘Da Kid’ impression in this one, keeping Blue at bay, and giving his heavily outgunned hosts a chance to hang on and remain lossless on the season. Teal did just that, milking that one goal lead to the finish line, with a little help from Captain Karns’ junk (third star of the game). Chris Tran (8/9) absorbed the hard luck loss, having faced just over a third the shots his mates managed, but it’s that goals allowed stat that translates to wins and losses, and Teal escaped a short-benched week with yet another tick in the win column, 1-0 over Blue. At 6-0-1, (spoiler alert) Teal now stand alone atop the standings at 6-0-1…now the only team (spoiler alert) without a loss, third in goals-for (23), and first in goals-allowed (7). The results of the 7:00 Week Seven game certainly took some wind out of the ‘Battle Of Unbeaten Beasts’ matchup with Olive this Sunday, but all signs still point to that one being a hot ticket. The loss keeps Captain Gaudio’s team stuck in that aforementioned four pack of five point teams. They will need to have a good showing this Sunday against Red, and/or find a way past Purple in their final game if they hope to see the second season.

It was fitting that Black and White would meet in the one Week Seven matchup that was most clearly a ‘do or die’ duel. Captain Ian Crooks’ ‘Midnight Muffin Monsters’ came in with no wins, with their last non-win coming in a crushing 5-2 loss to (previously un-feated) Orange. Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Puffy White Shirts’ entered Week Seven with a win to their name (a 7-4 ambush of Yellow), but the same measly three points as their opponent at 1-4-1. The winner of this game could at least be assured some measure of control over their playoff fate, with five points in the bank and two games to play, while the loser would find themselves alone at the bottom of the pile, in (very) desperate need of two wins, and likely a fair amount of help to find a way through to September play. Mostafa Azab put White in front first (from Chris Malki and Jordan Pynn), but birthday girl (August 12th), Steph Palomo Schmidt, would equalize with 1:19 to play in the opening frame, finishing a gorgeous passing sequence from Rich Shane to Tomás Jankovich to Palomo Schmidt’s back door perch. Jordan Pynn untied the game in favor of White at 4:52 in the second (from Will Heinl), but Mark Nagy brought Black even again just eight seconds later, and a wild series of penalties (one on Black, then two on White) led to a go-ahead power play strike from Dan Jurgens (from Nagy and Gary Peters). Mark DeGraffenreid (very momentarily) found his late 90’s form, weaving past a pair of White defenders, then shoveling a backhand past Nick Meglich to make it 4-2 (from Steve Linke and Peters) early in the third, then Sadie Hellstrom made her return officially triumphant with a pretty tip goal (from Nagy and DeGraffenreid), and an empty-netter in the dying seconds to cap Black’s 6-2 long overdue uprising. Jimm Reifsnyder (6/8) was steady and solid as can be in a fill-in role, while Nick Meglich (15/20) was left hollow, suffering another loss for White after a sparkling shutout performance in relief of Sean Kelly in another win for Teal. The loss has Captain Bathgate’s bunch in a real bind, to say the very least. They will need wins in their final two games, or at the very least a win over Orange this Sunday and some help if they hope to survive. The ‘iceberg, dead ahead’ for White…Teal in Week Nine…yikes. The win for Black, coupled with losses for Blue and Purple, and a shocking (spoiler alert) second win for Orange, has created a log jam of teams with five points apiece. The odds are that three of these four teams will survive, while one will fall on the scrap heap with White (purely making mathematical assumptions here). Depending on tiebreakers and the like, the playoff picture could be mostly settled this Sunday. If the final spot(s) come down to the final week of play, it will be one last summer sweat out for Blue, Purple, Orange, White, Black…and possibly Grey.

We all, of course, know that the Bible is the most famous work of fiction ever committed to paper, but some of the parables and prose can still find real relevance and application in our modern world. Take ‘David versus Goliath’, for instance…the classic example of a lopsided battle “on paper”, with a terrifically twisty result that inspires underdogs around the world to this very day. Captain Josh Tran’s ‘Pulp Can Move, Baby!’ had already begun to bulk up a bit with a huge Week Six win over Black, but they were absolutely still in David mode at 1-4-1, with little hope of defeating Captain Tyler Winstead’s 5-0-1 Goliath with sass and slingshot alone. Mind you, this Goliath had become much kinder and gentler over the past month, having killed just seven local villagers in the that span after laying waste to seventeen the two weeks prior, but even without the bloodbaths and bludgeoning, the Olive trend had been their opponents’ end, and the odds were not in favor of Biblical ‘history’ repeating itself in this ‘lopsided battle’. The combatants wrestled to a scoreless draw through one period of play before David finally landed a shot at 7:39 in the second in the form of Andy Strathman’s fifth of the season (from Captain Tran and Justin Stege). Goliath would exact swift revenge a minute and a half later, with Nick Vacchio continuing to add to his impressive summer season numbers (from Chris Tullio and sub Steph Palomo Schmidt), but this only sent David into flurry rush mode (Zelda reference) with three unanswered goals from Matt Gottfried (Jackson Tomaszewski), Justin Stege (Jeremy Copp), and Tomaszewski (Mike Chiaco) to stun the giant, and leave him reeling in place down 4-1 after two. Captain Tran made it 5-1 early in the third, and Goliath would manage just one more swing of his giant limbs (Kyle Snyder from Chris Tullio) before collapsing atop a row of nearby houses in defeat, 5-2. So, if the Bible has taught us nothing else (and it hasn’t), it’s that you should never give up, and you should always have hope…or…something like that. Orange now find themselves hopeful, indeed, having won two in a row to resurrect their season (that’s a whole other Bible story that I don’t have time for). A win over White this Sunday could be all they need to make it to the second coming (no time), but failing that, they should still be alive to the finish line, where they will meet Grey in a match dripping with playoff implication potential. The loss is certainly tough to swallow for Captain Winstead’s waylaid winners, but they can climb back on top this week with a win over ‘that other Goliath in town’, Teal.

It’s always a sellout crowd in attendance to watch a Salt Brothers Smackdown™, but the scalpers took it on the chin when it was announced that this would (once again) be a low sodium installment. With younger, better looking, better liked, and more skilled brother Zach away, ‘the other Salt brother’ made Purple pay, leading the way for Red with a pair of first period goals and a third period helper en route to a 4-2 Red roundup of precariously-playoff-perched Purple. Salt’s first came at with just 1:40 remaining in the first (from Maureen Ruchhoeft and Christopher Fiore), and a short-handed solo strike with just 0:02 left in the opening stanza. Luke Wolmer was still plenty warm after his POTW performance in Week Six, and he promptly led Purple back with a pair of his own–an unassisted powerplay goal at 8:30, and another lone wolf bite at 6:28 to even the score at two all. Syd Costello (26/30) who was, by all accounts, in beast mode, was busy keeping Purple on track to victory with her trademark acrobatic slides and saves, but Justin Ker made the score sheet (and the Wrong Shirt Hall Of Fame) with the game-winner at 4:44 in the middle period (from Captain Geoff Downes and Fiore). Costello earned a very rare POTW honor for a member of a losing side, continuing to hold her team in under intense Red pressure heading into the final ten minutes of play, but Maureen Ruchhoeft notched her second of the season (Salt) at 8:35 in the third, and Silas Perks (18/20) held the fort at the other end to hang on for a 4-2 Red victory. The win has Captain Downes’ team in third place heading into the final two weeks of play. At 3-1-3, they are very likely already a mathematical lock for the playoffs (but who has time for that math). They will look to improve their position and polish their poise for playoff play with remaining games against Blue and Yellow. Captain Sev Brown’s brigade were (of course) hoping to find a way out of the cut line pack with a Week Seven coup, but will now have to get in the trenches and fight for their playoff lives against those same two teams (Yellow and Blue). A win against Yellow might be enough to get them through, but they will likely remain alive even with a loss, depending how the rest of the ‘Gang Of Four With Five’ fare in Week Eight…

Captain Rob Gaudio’s ‘Blue Liner Bubble Boy’ took one step closer to playoff safety, capturing their first win of the season in 3-1 win over ‘Graymerica Industries’. The Blue captain led his team out of the gate with his second of the season at 6:41 in the first (from Josh Wirt and Marshall Hamon), and slammed the proverbial gate on Grey with his second of the game at 3:43 in the third (from Tim Hamon). The middle period saw an exchange of goals from either side, with John Gamm netting the game-winner for Blue at 9:05 (from Marshall Hamon), and rookie Dan Soar responding less than a minute later for Grey (from Janice Darlington). so, this game saw Soar’s first career goal (CONGRATULATIONS!), Marshall Hamon’s first career points (CONGRATULATIONS!), and, most importantly for Gaudio’s crew, their first notch in the win column, moving them out of the back pack and into a slightly safer spot in the standings at 1-2-3. Chris Tran (24/25) earned first star honors for his sparkling sheet, while Matt Henderson (11/14) suffered the loss at the other end. If you’re in an all-Hamon fantasy league, we now have Shawna at three goals, zero assists, Tim at one goal, two assists, and Marshall at zero goals, two assists. My money’s on the kid to rally to household victory. Speaking of rallying, Blue will no doubt need at least a few more points to survive the cutline, and with their next two opponents (Teal and Red) sitting at a combined 7-1-4, they will need some upset mojo, and/or a winning effort against current standing neighbors, Purple, in the final week of play if they hope to complete their playoff push. At 2-2-2, Grey is by no means all that much safer than Blue at this point, but after what should be a fun, hard-fought, middle-of-the-pack battle with Yellow this Sunday, their final two opponents (Orange and Black…a combined 1-7-4) smell like wins-to-be for Captain Zach Siemer’s crew.

With Yellow’s Captain Carl and Buddy Brennan™ away, John Boddy came out to play…and slay. The swashbuckling sniper scored (seemingly) at will, capitalizing on those key Yellow vacancies, and more than making up for the absence of fellow SDFHL demi-god, David Schlatter. It was actually Joel Gattey who would draw first blood for the lossless favorites, converting a Captain Ryan Karns assist into a power play goal at 4:53 in the first. Teal was in Boddy cruise control from there out, with JB goals at 1:10 in the first (from Karns), the unassisted game-winner at 4:32 in the second, and a pair of third period goals (from Alan Razoky and Joe Nguyen, then from Gattey to close out the scoring). That’s one man…four goals, and another victory for a team so deep they don’t miss the likes of David Schlatter. Yellow did muster (Yellow…muster…*rim shot*) two responses…the first coming in the middle frame from Jim LaGrossa (Scott Wieland and Audrey Stratton), and the second in the third period (Wieland from Mason LaGrossa). LaGrossa (the older one) is back to his usual top tier form this season, sitting atop the player stats board with fifteen points (5 and 10). Boddy’s Week Six heroics have him just below Jim at fourteen (10-4, good Boddy). Teal has bragging rights where it counts, though…on the scoreboard for this one (a 5-2 win over Yellow), and in the standings, where they still sit on a shared throne with Olive at 5-0-1 (both of whom, incidentally, have now already clinched a playoff berth). They face a determined, but not-quite-desperate-yet Blue this Sunday before the big Week Eight showdown with their standings attic rivals. The loss doesn’t do much harm to Yellow who now find themselves at 3-3-0, but a loss to Grey this Sunday would put them in some potential peril rolling into their final two games.

The Week Six middle game was not just the ‘Battle Of Cocktail Garnishes’, but a marquee matchup of unbeaten teams. While Olive’s blistering early season scoring pace had slowed to trickle mode over the previous three games, they were still finding ways to get the job done. Captain Geoff Downes’ ‘Little Cherry Seinfeld’ came in boasting no losses, half as many wins, but just three fewer goals-for than Captain Tyler Winstead & Company. By all ‘on paper’ logic, it was destined to be a very good game featuring to very good teams…and it was. Chris Tulio put Olive on top at 4:44 in the first (from Kyle Snyder), and Nick Vacchio doubled the lead early in the second (from Greg Wirth). You’re usually lucky to manage two goals against Silas Perks, and that is indeed all that Olive would manage, but Don Tran came in riding a FULL THREE GAME SHUT OUT STREAK (!), and any ideas Red had of avenging Perks was going to have to go through him. Kevin Dinino finally did snap that streak, which, at 106 minutes and 21 seconds may well be in contention for the longest in league history. Christopher Fiore and Mark Ennsmann had the assists on the Dinino marker, but it would be the only blemish on Tran’s night, as his 19/20 was good enough to give Olive their fifth win of the season, 2-1 over Red. Perks (14/16) and his Red mates absorbed their first loss of the season, but remain very much in a safe space in the standings at 2-1-3. Olive will look to embellish their already impressive record this Sunday against a rather woeful (but still playoff hopeful) Orange, but their calendars are definitely circled for a Week Eight battle with the tied-for-tops Teal. Red may or may not need another point or two to ensure a playoff berth, but with Perks in nets, and (hopefully) a healthy Jon Salt in the lineup (he was out again for this one), they will have no trouble holding their place in the playoff pool.

The term ‘must win’ is often inaccurate, and absolutely overused in sports…and while the Week Six game between Orange and Black was not a MUST win for either side, it was certainly close to it. It was a particularly crucial game for Captain Josh Tran’s Orange, who came in nursing an 0-4-1 record, and running out of games to make up ground on the teams (all nine teams) ahead of them in the standings. Captain Ian Crooks’ Black brought more points, but hardly much more standings stability to the table at 0-2-3. A win for Orange would put them back in the thick of the playoff hunt, and actually move them out of rock bottom for the first time. A win for Black would not only bury Orange, but would give them five points, and put them above the cut line, and in position to shore up a playoff seed with three weeks to play. Mark Nagy gave Black the lead just 1:08 into the first (from Mark DeGraffenreid and Gary Peters), but Jackson Tomaszewski responded less than a minute and a half later. DeGraffenreid wrested the lead back for Black later in the period (from Nagy and Steve Linke), but Captain Josh Tran banged home a delicious centering feed from Pat Gladstone to leave the score knotted at twos through one. Andrew Jacobsen threw a gentle lob towards net from distance that somehow made its way home at 9:21 in the second, and Andy Strathman followed at 7:13 (from Gladstone…so hot right now, Gladstone) to build a 4-2 lead for Orange. Black would find no more cracks in super sub Nick Vacchio’s pads, as he stopped 11/13 to give his surrogate team a crucial win. Tomaszewski would deposit an empty-netter with 1:27 to play (with Jacobsen collecting the most shameful of points…an empty-netter assist), bringing the final score to 5-2, boosting Orange out of their season-long hole, and driving a stake through an already half-beating Black heart. Black is still alive in the playoff hunt, and Orange is by no stretch of any imagination out of the woods yet, but that ‘must win’ mentality is vital for both teams going into the final third of the season. In a crazy twist of fate, both teams have exactly the same three remaining opponents…Olive, Grey, and White. Whichever team fares better against that trio, but particularly against White, will have the best chance of keeping hockey Sundays on the calendar into September.

The nightcap was another big game for another pair of teams that have struggled to succeed so far this season. Captain Sev Brown’s Purple entered at 1-3-1, with that one win coming against whipping boy, Orange. Captain Sean Bathgate’s team entered with an identical record, and an identical design to change the course of their season by winning a game against a standings neighbor. The energy and intensity was swirling from start to finish in this one…easily one of the best games I have witnessed all season. Luke Wolmer was the player of the game, and indeed the player of the week, and he struck first for Purple at 3:44 in the first (from Erin Plone and Zach Salt). The second period saw White rise up to even the score, then take the lead, as Chris Malki (from Emily Bennington and Joe Malki) and Jordan Pynn (from Joe Malki and Chris Malki) struck within about a minute of each other to give their team a one goal edge heading into the third. To quote Sublime, ‘that’s-when-things-got-out-of-con-trol’, with Wolmer evening the score with his second of the game at 8:05 (from Sev Brown and Jason Northrup), Ty Pereira giving Purple a 3-2 lead minutes later (from Salt), and Wolmer padding that lead to two just sixteen clicks after the Pereira strike. White would rally, though, with an unassisted Joe Malki marker making it 4-3 at 3:34, and Pynn’s second of the night bringing things all the way back level at 2:51 (from the Malkis). Purple would have the last laugh in this one, however, as Pereira potted his second of the period with just 0:42 remaining (from Salt and Wolmer) to stun White, and send them home with another tough loss around their necks, 5-4. Nick Meglich (11/16) did his best under what seemed like constant siege, but the wacky, wild, Kool-Aid style win went to Chuck Bender (22/26) in a fill-in role for Syd Costello (who…get this…’thought it was Saturday’, according to her captain, who was left scrambling to find a goalie sub after a frantic game time phone call). Much like Orange and Black, both of these teams will need at least a decent showing in their final three to lock in a playoff spot. Purple now has five points, head to head wins against both Orange and White, and reasonably challenging, but not too crazy remaining schedule (Red, Yellow, Blue). White’s next two are against Black and Orange, and they will absolutely need to win at least one of those, since their final opponent of the season is…Teal.

Two teams with two points apiece looked to double that number and skate out of cut line real estate in Week Five, with Captain Rob Gaudio’s Blue facing Captain Sean Bathgate’s White. A win for either team would work wonders, while a loss would leave the loser limp, and very much in limbo heading into the final four weeks of play. Emily Bennington got White off on the right foot with her second of the season at 6:32 (from Brandon Olsen and Ramsey Ksar), but Shawna Hamon fought female fire with female fire to even the score at ones at 2:10 (from Josh Wirt). Nick Meglich (19/20) kept Blue off the board the rest of the way, and Chris Tran (14/15) matched his macho at the other end to preserve the 1-1 tie, and send both teams home with luke warm fuzzies. With just one win between these teams in ten tries (fittingly, White does have the lone ‘W’), both teams must hunker down and bunker in for a second half fight for survival. Orange remains in dead last with just one point, but Blue and White join Black and Purple in the ‘danger zone’ just north of that nadir. This pack of playoff hopefuls will (barring more ties) begin to break up this Sunday, as White faced fellow 1-3-1’ers, Purple, and Blue looks to topple a 2-1-2 Grey.

Speak of the Grey, and the Grey shall appear. Well…Grey’s defense, anyway. Both Captain Zach Siemer’s side and Captain Tyler Winstead’s crew found their scoring punch somewhere in the picket lines with the Hollywood writers, while Don Tran (20/20) and Matt Henderson (13/13) flexed their star power in a 0-0 draw that had World Cup fans drooling. The result is actually something of a coup for Grey, as they can now boast that they are the only team to avoid a loss against Olive…a team that has (for whatever reason) downshifted from ‘high octane offense’ in Weeks One & Two (seventeen goals) to ‘narrowly enough neutral’ (three goals total in three games since). The point does keep Olive perched at the pinnacle, tied with Teal at 4-0-1, in spite of their recent scoring anemia (the fewest goals of any team in the last three weeks, by far). One could (and I would) make the argument that this makes Olive even scarier…they can coast, yet still conquer. Grey are now safely tucked in the middle of the pack at 2-1-2, with three of their remaining four opponents (Orange, Black, and Blue) currently sitting on ZERO combined wins in fifteen tries. Nothing is ever truly a ‘lock’ in sports, but…Grey is a lock for locking down a healthy playoff position come September…

Captain Josh Tran’s Orange were hoping for a reversal of fortune in Week Five, after the futility in their first four forays were featured on the front page of this fine publication. The gist of last week’s recap was that (perhaps) a good chunk of the woes for ‘Pulp Can Move, Baby!’ were at least in some part (and perhaps, significantly) due to an AWOL Matt Gottfried. Matt was (finally) back in Week Five, but unfortunately for Orange, they once again found themselves pulp free against fruit circuit rivals, ‘Little Cherry Seinfeld’. Kevin Dinino shoveled home his third of the season (from Matt Rogers) to stake Red to a 1-0 lead through one, a solo Jon Salt strike in the second built the lead to two, and a second from Salt (from Captain Geoff Downes and Mark Ennsmann) and a Downes empty-netter (from Ennsmann) were the beats of the scoring drum in Red’s 4-0 win over Orange. Jimm Reifsnyder (19/22) and Silas Perks (22/22) were equally tested (at least in quantity), but Perks is peaking again (.975/0.50/2 SO), and could very well be shouldering another strong contender as we close in on the second season. For Orange, it is very much officially ‘do or die’ time. As poorly as their season has gone, a Week Six win over a very beatable Black would have ‘Pulp’ right back in the playoff mix, and (finally) out of the citrus cellar. Week Six is proving ground time for Red, as they take on top dogs, Olive. A win would push them into at least a share of the top spot, and serve as a ‘statement’ that these ‘cherries’ belong on top.

Another week, another dose of bleak for Captain Ian Crooks’ Black. After opening the season with a 5-1 loss to Teal, Crooks’ & Company tallied a trio of ties (a heartbreaking 0:07 remaining non-win against Blue, an uplifting 0:04 comeback coup against Red, and a standard issue 3-3 stalemate with Purple). So, never enough to punch through to the win column, but slow and steady one point plodding. Black would snap that three game tie streak in Week Five, but not in the way they had hoped. Brennan Abel put Yellow in front with an unassisted effort at 2:18 in the first, and Dan Jurgens responded for Black at 9:05 in the second (from Mark Nagy), only to have Abel restore the lead late in the second (from Scott Wieland and Arnold Gonzales). Nagy put Black back in that familiar, knotted position at 4:37 in the third (from Mark DeGraffenreid and Jurgens), but that knot slid into their stomachs as a VERY unfortunate turnover in their own zone turned into a VERY pretty finish for Marc Lapointe with 1:59 to play, and a 4-3 finish in favor of our cover team, Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘Yellooow, Newman’. As noted in the front page image blurb, the win is the third straight for Yellow–the longest active streak in the league. That streak, and the overall Yellow mettle will be truly tested against Teal in Week Six. Black cannot live on ties alone, and they REALLY need to beat Orange this Sunday if they have any hope of surviving past Week Nine.

The ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ are pretty well established by the midpoint in any SDFHL season, and the Week Five matchup between Teal (haves) and Purple (have nots) ended as you would ‘have’ expected. Captain Sev Brown’s ‘I’m An Eggplant’ had actually made a game of their last two games (a 6-5 win over Orange, and a 3-3 tie with Black), but those are two teams with no wins, and a combined point total barely better than half that of Teal’s seven points coming in. Oh, and the player responsible for five of the nine total goals in those prior two games for Purple, Zach Salt…not in the lineup, alas. So, not entirely surprising that Teal prevailed with relative ease in this one, 5-0, but Purple can definitely draw encouragement from a very strong outing from rookie netminder, Syd Costello (18/23). Costello was under duress from start to finish, but kept a severely outgunned Purple (ten shots for, more than double that against) in what should have been a lopsided game much longer than Teal might have hoped. A scoreless first saw Costello turn away eleven Teal tries, but David Schlatter finally found twine with 3:37 remaining in the second. It was Schlatter again with 0:23 in that same frame (from Chad Goins), and again to complete the hat trick at 7:33 in the third (from Vinny Santora and Captain Ryan Karns). John Boddy plumped the lead to 4-0 (from Schlatter and Joel Gattey), and Nadia Connolly netted the last straw (from Boddy and Karns) to round out the scoring and put the wraps on Teal’s fourth victory in five tries. Chuck Bender (10/10) recovered from his own team’s tough loss to complete a fine fill-in fling with no flaws, with the win keeping Teal in lock step with their big Week Eight opponent, Olive. Purple will need standard issue Salt, a stellar Syd, and a side of secondary scoring if they hope to put themselves on a winning track. Their Week Six showdown with 1-3-1 record twins, White, would be a good time to start their climb….a loss could spell the beginning of the end.

Our cover team this week is our cover team for all the wrong reasons, but a closer look at their first four games proves that they are really just getting squeezed (and not in a good way). Worse, it’s partially an inside job. Week One…a 2-2 with Blue (with no Strathman or Gottfried). Week Two…a 2-1 loss to front runners, Teal (no Gottfried). Week Three…a wild, last minute 6-5 loss to Purple (still no Gottfried). Captain Tran’s clan lined up in Week Four with no Jacobsen, no Tomaszewski, and…you’re catching on…no Gottfried. Matt sustained an ankle injury just before the season kicked off, but that ankle has been hamstringing Orange since, leaving them without their best defender, and one of their best all around players. Every team is going to have attendance dings, especially in the summer, but Orange will either need some good news from the Gottfried estate, or a replacement player ASAP if they hope to salvage this season. Yellow was without Marc Lapointe and Brennan Abel, but they still had plenty of firepower to find a win in this one. Mason LaGrossa cashed in his first career SDFHL goal at 5:12 in the first to make it 1-0, Yellow…CONGRATULATIONS! His proud papa served up the lone assist on a Scott Wieland strike a few minutes later to give Yellow a two goal edge heading into the second. Captain Josh Tran answered for his team very early in that middle stanza, kicking off a seesaw scoring streak that lasted just a few minutes….Vankoughnett unassisted…Strathman from Captain Tran….Wieland’s second from Vankoughnett and Jim LaGrossa…Andy Strathman from Justin Stege. If you’re scoring at home (which, why would you be…this has all already happened), that’s a 4-3 Yellow lead going to the third. Captain Carl gave his team some breathing room, then choked any remaining air out of Orange’s windpipe with the game-winner at 9:23 (from Jim LaGrossa), and the hat-trick-capping insurance tally at 8:51 (from Mason LaGrossa). Captain Tran represented the last gasp for Orange (from Pat Gladstone), but their was not enough time, energy, and scoring prowess in Orange’s ranks to draw any closer. Jon Cima (13/17) collected his second career win, keeping his team in it long enough for them to secure their second straight. The 6-4 result is the first Orange loss by more than one goal, but a loss is a loss, and this is their third in four tries. As noted in all of the preamble above, they will really need to find their winning juice soon, or die trying…

Captain Sev Brown’s Purple, and Captain Ian Crooks’ Black entered Week Four with two points each, and with teams piling up on top of them. It’s dog eat dog in the depths of the standings, and two hungry dogs made for a hard-fought, and very entertaining game (according to the capacity crowd of six…including refs and scorer). Captain Crooks got the ball rolling for his team late in the first with his second of the season, but Purple responded with three unanswered to take (what appeared to be) total control of the match. Fittingly, it was Captain Brown with the first response from Purple. With due respect to Sev, this was a quintessential ‘garbage goal’….but, they all count the same on the score sheet. Enter Zach Salt…who had flown in on a private jet to miss as little of this game as possible. Salt put Purple ahead with 0:45 remaining in the second (from Luke Wolmer and Erin Plone), then Plone tucked home one of her own on a nifty tic-tac-toe play from Trice Harvey to Salt to Plone to give Purple a 3-1 edge. Enter Tomáš Jankovic, who wove through traffic and delivered a sublime backhand back door pass to Rich Shane to cut the lead to one less than a minute after the Plone strike, but then tied the (scoring) knot from distance with a solo effort. That would be all the balls finding holes in Nick Meglich (21/24) and Chuck Bender (24/27) as both teams strove for two points, but settled for one a piece in the 3-3 tie. The result keeps both teams just north of the cut line, with Purple in a slightly better position with a tick in the win column. Both teams will need to find more in the tank in the second half if they expect to make the playoffs, let alone make playoff waves.

Meanwhile, just south of the cut line, Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Puffy White Shirts’ looked to even their record at 2-2-0, and move into a safer position in the standings with a leapfrog win over Grey. Grey proved too big a frog to leap on this day, but they were just a tad (pole) better in another great Week Four game. Chris Malki put the ‘Shirts’ on top at 9:16 in the first (from Will Heinl), and six minutes and six seconds ticked past before Kalen Hunter would respond for Grey. Emily Bennington wrested the lead back for White less than a minute later (from Brandon Olsen and Chris Malki), but the scoring seal was well and truly broken then, as Hunter brought Grey level again at 1:51 (from Dan Soar and Rob LaVigne), and LaVigne gave Grey their first lead at 1:03 (from Bao Nguyen). The second period was relatively quiet, but it started with that scoring spout still open, as Chris Malki cashed in the 3-3 equalizer at 8:58 (from Heinl, again). Captain Sean Bathgate’s first…*checking*…CAREER goal (CONGRATULATIONS!) at 9:27 in the third (from Malki and Heinl) started to look like it might also be his first game-winning goal, as the clock wound into the final minutes of play. It was Leah Gonzales who would rewrite that Hollywood ending at 3:12 (from Soar and Hunter), and it Janice Darlington (from Hunter and Soar) completing the one-two femme fatale knock out blow. The 5-4 loss was another tough result for an overworked and underrated Nick Meglich (20/25), and nothing more than a faux feather in Ian Crooks’ cap (10/14) in a fill-in role for Matt Henderson. Bathgate’s bunch will need to find the scoring punch they showed in a 7-4 win over Yellow in Week Two, or start hoping for some Meglich Magic™ to pull them out of their lower decks digs. Their faceoff with two point twins, Blue, is as big as a Week Five game gets on the playoff implication scale. The win moves Captain Zach Siemer’s Grey to 2-1-1, good enough for third place with five weeks to play.

Winning isn’t everything, but it’s all Captain Tyler Winstead’s Olive know how to do. After opening the season with two awe-inspiring wins (SEVENTEEN goals, people!), Week Three saw them shuffle quietly past White, 2-0. The scoring stayed in low gear, but the slow drive ended in the same small, seaside town…Winstead Winville. The ‘Girl Power’ spilled over from the last minutes of the middle game, as Wendy Enright broke a scoreless tie with her first of the season at 7:41 in the second. The lone assist on what would be the lone goal of the game came courtesy of Kyle Snyder. Snyder’s ridiculous scoring pace through the first two weeks of play has slowed to something approaching human. His eleven points (7 and 4) still have him sitting in second on the scoring charts, but the back to back shutouts posted by Don Tran (14/14) and his team seems a clear indication that his defensive contributions are at least as vital as his offensive prowess. The 1-0 loss was a tough one to swallow for Captain Rob Gaudio’s Blue, considering their precarious position in the standings, and considering that Olive’s one goal came on just nine shots. Chuck Bender (8/9) absorbed the loss in Chris Tran’s absence…one of THREE games Bender backstopped in Week Four! With the win, and the result in the late game (spoiler alert), Olive remain the only perfect team at 4-0-0. It will take a lot for them to miss the playoffs, and they are maybe one win away from convincing me that they are definitively the team to beat. Blue needs points…badly. A win over White this Sunday might be just the turning point they need. A loss to White, and it’s a different kind of turn, altogether…

Two of the three remaining undefeated teams in the league put that mark on the line with Captain Geoff Downes’ 1-0-2 Red taking on Captain Ryan Karns’ 2-0-1 Teal. What might have been billed as the battle of the heir apparent to the goalie throne (Silas Perks) versus the once and future king (Sean Kelly) was still a thriller with Don Tran in Perks’ place. It was Tran who would yield first, with John Boddy putting Teal in front at 1:40 in the first (from Captain Karns and Nadia Connolly). Captain Downes answered just nineteen seconds into the second (from Mark Ennsmann), but Alan Razoky responded with just four remaining in the middle third. David Schlatter solved Silas again at 9:25 in the third (from Joel Gattey and Vinny Santora), but as the old adage goes, and as the Black v Purple game earlier in the evening proves, ‘a two goal lead is the worst lead in hockey’. Christopher Fiore cut that lead to one just fifteen seconds later (from Ennsmann and Downes), but that one goal lead did not treat the leaders any better. Maureen Ruchhoeft capped what was apparently some sort of unofficial league ladies’ night, bringing Red back level with 1:52 to play (from Jon Salt and Kevin Dinino). In maybe the most bizarre bits on the score sheet for this one, Salt was booked for ‘elbowing’…a very rarely called infraction…called against a perennially PIM-less player. The 3-3 tie kept both teams lossless, and both comfortably in the top half of the league ladder. Sean Kelly (25/28) was certainly busier than Tran (15/18) in this one, but both were sharp and steady enough to see their respective teams (well, Tran’s foster team, to be accurate) through another undefeated week. Both teams will look to extend that streak against ‘lesser’ opponents, with Red taking on dead last Orange (0-3-1), and Teal tackling 1-2-1 Purple.