The schedule maker (apparently) saw no problem pitting the most like-shirted teams against each other in the very first week of play. It was a bit hard to tell ‘Gold’ from ‘Orange’ out there, and even the score ended up matchy-matchy. Ash Wadhwa was in a fiery mood, and he had the hot hand for Orange, as well. He put Orange on the board early in the second, tied the game with his second at 6:29 in the third, and added a good old fashion shouting match for good measure in the waning minutes. Newcomer, Michael Betsch, wasted no time scoring his first career SDFHL goal with assists to Matt Hanley and Jim LaGrossa. LaGrossa gave Gold the lead with just one tick left in the second to complete a two point night, but Wadhwa’s aforementioned third period strike made it a 2-2 tango. Christian LeClair was steadier than he has been for most of his short SDFHL career, stopping 17/19, while Matt Henderson rebounded from the sting of Final failure to preserve a point for Captain Wirth’s side with a 14/16 effort.

Continuing the hard-to-tell-apart Week One theme, it was a muddle of Red and Pink in the second game of the season. Alex Theis was other-worldly in this one for Captain Karn’s lighter shaded side (31/33), but Vance Morra found a hole and filled it to give Red a 1-0 lead in the second. Andrew Jacobsen made his return to the league, and returned the scoring favor for Pink to make it 1-1 going into the third. Theis was sharper with each passing minute, but Jon Salt peppered him with long shots, then sliced in a sneaky strike from a tough angle to put Red up for good, 2-1. Theis was saddled with the tough loss, while Matt Henderson (10/11) recorded the win in a fill-in roll for Tiffany Fox, who was out in Vegas with Captain Danny Antonelli.

Speaking of other-worldly, London Peters is some kind of bionic being created in a lab to tests the limits of speed on the human form. Captain Kayleigh Marsolini and her crew held strong while he drag raced them up and down the court, but the young gun finally broke through on a long wrister to give Black a 1-0 lead at 3:53 in the third. Brian Sheptycki answered two minutes later to make it 1-1 and set up a fight to the finish. It was deja vu all over again for Melissa Busby (9/11), as Peters (who else) snapped a shot from just inside the blue line…off her body…over her head…in behind her…game over, 2-1 Black over Green. Busby battled, but was bitten again, while Alex Theis recorded the win he deserved in his own team’s game, stopping 17/18 to spell the absent Sean Kelly.

Grey and Purple squared off, and produced yet another low-scoring game decided by one goal. In fact, the two teams combined for one goal in this one. That one goal belonged to Captain Mark Ennsmann, who spoiled Cory Brin’s night at 3:54 in the first, with assists to Alyce Perry and Jeremy Zillmer. Brin (6/7) was by far the less busy of the two goalies in this one, as Nick Adkins stopped 24/24 to steal a win in Chris Tran’s absence. Considering that Grey was without the services of Kris Tosczak, Michael Froman, John Gamm, and Philip Nguyen, this 1-0 win over a fully-staffed Purple is certainly the Crazy Coup Of The Week (new feature I am trying out).

Well, it took all five games, but Week One finally saw a ‘decisive win’. By ‘decisive’, I mean a huge, two goal takedown, of course. Steve Jones is back (pardon the pun), and still doing damage with his stick (pardon the pun). Jones scored late in the first, and late in the third to lead the charge for Captain Zach Siemer’s Mint side. Mark Daquipa collected two assists, and both Dan Jurgens and Julie Ott each had a helper in the 2-0 win over Blue. Captain Nick Adkins would have liked the result he had as Chris Tran’s surrogate in the prior game, but he got a 10/12 loss, instead. Chuck Bender stopped 12/12 the other way, keeping the vaunted returning veteran, Jeff Anderson, at bay on the way to a nice, fat Week One win.

It was (nearly) all Kamal in the first of a two part finale. Gill opened the scoring at 4:40 in the first, doubled the lead to 2-0 minutes later, then squashed any hope of a miracle comeback with the hat trick cake icing late in the third. Vance Morra rounded out the scoring with an early second period power play strike, and collected an assist on Gill’s first. Sean Kelly earned a second assist on Morra’s goal, and stopped 22/22 to take any and all pressure off an already loose and ready Tie Dye side. The 4-0 Tie Dye win meant an immediate rematch for all the marbles…

The marbles remained in question through nearly three full periods of play in the second game. Both Matt Henderson (16/18) and Sean Kelly (16/16) were strong, but Captain Joe Malki finally delivered the decisive gut punch with 1:08 to play, converting a Harsh Wanigaratne helper into the Cup-winning goal. That man Kamal got in on the act in this one, as well, sealing the deal with his fourth of the evening in the final half minute of play to clinch a championship for Tie Dye, and Final MVP honors for himself. The 2-0 win over Black completed a back to back sneak attack, capping a twist and turn season in thrilling fashion.

Captain Kevin Dinino’s ‘Domo Orangino’ had the most consistently competitive run of any Fall League side, running through a full regular season slate, plus four playoff games without ever losing by more than one goal. It was another back and forth affair for Orange in the opening game of Week Four. Gary Peters shocked all involved with a rising rocket nine seconds in, and Jet Javelet made it 2-0 for the underdogs at 6:03 in the first. Kris Tosczak stopped the bleeding with his first of the night less than twenty seconds later, but David Bronstein very quickly put Orange back up 3-1. It was Tosczak again to cut the lead to 3-2, and both teams walked to the bench for intermission with a bewildered buzz. It was Tosczak again for the hat trick and the tie early in the second, converting Glenn Pinto’s third assist on the night, then Captain Chad Goins to give Pink the 4-3 lead (assist to…you guessed it, Mr. Tosczak). Jet Javelet (2 and 2) brought the ledger back to level with a blistering roof job early in the third, and the dust would finally settle, as regulation wore to an end with no further damage either way. Both teams found chances, but no finish in OT, and it was on to the shootout. Dale Stuzka followed a Mark DeGraffenreid miss with a goal to open the first round. David Bronstein would equalize later in the string, and it was on to sudden death shootout. It was DeGraffenreid…NO, Dale…YES once again, as the storied league veteran dipped, deked, and delivered the final dagger, moving Pink on to face Tie Dye with a 5-4 shootout win…

Captain Joe Malki’s Tie Dye were rested and ready for Pink, who showed no lack of passion, but some signs of fatigue in their second game of the night. Danielle Franco-Morrison smacked home a rebound to give Tie Dye a 1-0 lead, and Chris Malki added insurance just two ticks into a power play to double the trouble in the second. Sean Kelly stood tall, stopping 22/22, making two goals more than enough for Tie Dye, 2-0 over Pink. Tiffany Fox absorbed the loss, in spite of strong play all night (and all season). She stopped all but one Orange shootout attempt, then gave her team a chance with 15/17 in the second game of the double header. Congratulations to Tie Dye, who move on to face Black in the Spring League Final. Pink can hold their heads high for a great season, and a hard fought final night of action.

Matt Henderson turned away all eighteen shots he faced, while Sean Kelly was left holding a particularly prickly L, as Black continued their improbable and impressive run to the Fall League Final. Jordan Pynn (who else) scored the game’s first goal, and game-winner late in the second period, and Dan Jurgens tucked home some insurance after catching Kelly halfway to the bench for an extra attacker. The 2-0 win is the most drama-free Black have managed, but manage they have…all the way to the promised land. They will rest this week, and await the last team standing in the Losers’ Bracket on February 9th. Tie Dye will look to capitalize on tired legs when facing either Pink or Orange in the second game of a double header this Sunday.

The middle game on the slate was anything but drama-free, as Orange alone racked up twenty five minutes of penalties (in a thirty minute game), with both teams scraping and scrapping for their playoff lives. Unfortunately for Captain Brett Cohen, his own injury, and the absence of key players, Justin Stege and Jerry Gonzales, would prove too much to overcome, in spite of the preponderance of power play time. London Peters accounted for four PIMs, but also a goal and an assist for Orange in the 2-1 win, including the primary assist on Bill Casey’s OT winner (scored, ironically, on Orange’s only power play of the night). The goal of the night (possibly the season) though, belong to Stephanie Chen, who roofed a nifty Dorothy Kline pass to knot the score at 1-1 late in the first. That sparkler is little consolation for Maroon, whose playoff flame is now extinguished. Orange remain alive, but face a tough test in Pink this Sunday. Should they prevail, they would still need to slip past Tie Dye to make it back to face Black.

More drama in the late game, with plenty of penalties, and not so many pleasantries flying about. Red was on the ropes early, after Pink poked home two points on the board in the first period (Tim Vick and John Gamm). Gamm came calling again in the second to pump the lead to 3-0, and Captain Chad Goins added a goal to his earlier assist to put things out of reach for good on the power play early in the third. It was a strange season arc to say the least for Red. After breezing through the regular season, hitting just one small snag in their final game, they managed just a 2-1 win over Green before bowing out of the playoffs with back to back losses to Tie Dye and Pink. The 4-0 win for Pink featured (naturally) a shutout for (the white hot…and pretty good at hockey, too 😉 ) Tiffany Fox (18/18), and two assist output from both Glenn Pinto and Mostafa Azab. All of this from Pink without first round sniper, Kris Tosczak in the line-up…this is why we play the games.