All wins and all losses are technically created equal, in that they count the same in the standings, but some wins and some losses just do not ‘feel’ equal through the lens of circumstance. A late season win to push your team to playoff safety, or loss to drag your team to the brink of elimination certainly ‘feels’ weightier than an early season result with ‘nothing really on the line’. Similarly, a standard issue 4-1 loss, with the outcome well settled before the final minutes come and go feels quite a bit different than a 1-0 loss, with that lone stake driving through your collective hearts with just 0:31 to play. Such was the fate for Captain Hima Joshi’s Gold, who had been locked in scoreless strife with Captain Ryan Karns’ Purple for 29:29, fully expecting to keep the L column clean, only to have a very weighty ‘1’ appear on the Purple side of the scoreboard, and a (seemingly) even weightier ‘1’ fall into said second column of their early season record. Chuck Bender (10/10) provided a perfect performance to set up the late dagger, and super sub, Jon Cima (21/22), was heroic, but ultimately haunted in the gut punch loss. Darin Cerasuolo played hero/villain (depending on your aforementioned lens) tucking a loose ball under Cima’s outstretched pad with 0:31 to play (Leah Gonzales & Geoff Downes) to send waves of joy through Purple’s bench and shuddering shock through Gold’s as a mutually agreeable 0-0 tie snapped to a 1-0 lightning strike win for Purple. Both teams now sit in the top half of the standings at 2-1-0, but this sort of leaden loss/weighty win can often alter the course of the season for one or both teams. There is plenty of season left to play (two thirds, to be exact), but this one ‘felt’ huge for both sides…

The ebbs and flows of any given season are always intriguing (to me, at least). Week One of the Fall League 2025 season saw thirty total goals scored, with just one of the five games decided by fewer than two goals. Week Three…thirty-nine total goals, with again just one game decided by just one goal. The opening game of Week Four seemed to serve as the standard for the rest of the slate, with the (very) low scoring trend bleeding into the 5:00 tilt between Captain Joel Gattey’s Lime and Captain Rob Gaudio’s White. A scoreless first meant that four periods of October play would pass with just ONE goal scored (and only just barely scored, at that). Lime did carry at 10-3 edge in shots through the first, but it was Captain Gaudio who would strike first early in the second, forcing a turnover in the slot, and wristing his fourth of the season past a surprised/confused/bemused Chris Tran. In line with the logic of the first recap, this was ‘just another game’ for both teams, but it was definitely a ‘special’ game for Lime’s Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks…sadly the final game of his SDFHL career. On cue…Perks drew Lime even just 1:01 after the Gaudio strike (Maureen Ruchhoeft)…another speck of sparkle on his legacy…you have to love it (although, I suppose White’s ranks did not). Craig Russell more than atoned for a late second period slashing penalty by snapping home his first of the season at 4:18 in the third to wrest the lead back for White (Jackson Tomaszewski & Captain Gaudio), but Perks was primed to save Lime with a poetically perfect career exclamation point. With Dan Jurgens in the box for a pair of roughing infractions behind Lime’s goal line, Gattey & Company would enjoy a player advantage for the remaining 2:11. With 0:34 to play…Silas F Perks…from his buddy (Brennen Abel)…2-2 game…another layer of cement on the SDFHL legend of ‘The Silencer’™. CONGRATULATIONS, SILAS…and thank you for being such a great part of this league over these past three or four years. You are a class act, and will be missed greatly! That final bow for Perks would (fittingly) be the last act in the 2-2 tie, with both teams settling to a sample platter 1-1-1 on the season. Chris Tran (16/18) was sharp as ever in another sub stint for long lost cousin, Don, while Jon Cima (22/24) capped one of his strongest career nights (to this writer’s recollection, anyway) with another sparkler, finishing with a 43/46 two-game body of wonderful work.

The Week Four middle game held to the meager offensive mold of of the 4:00 and 5:00, with Captain John Boddy returning to Blue’s lineup to lead his team against Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green in another tight, low-scoring scrap. The first ten minutes of play were (finally) graced with goals, as Eli Schonbrun put Blue in front at 4:23 (Captain Boddy), and Jon Zygelman responded for Green at 1:01 (Joe Malki). Because ‘slow your roll, you two relentless goal-scoring gangs’, the second would come and go as the fourth scoreless period of the first eight on the slate, leaving both teams just a second strike from a lead (and, given the paucity of pop to this point in the evening, a likely game-winner). That second strike came in Blue’s favor off the stick of Captain Boddy at 9:05, with Weston Oakley and Erin Plone collecting helpers on the go-ahead goal. There were plenty of ticks left on the clock, but the goal embargo continued to hold, as both Chris Tran (11/12) and John Kushneryk stunt double, Chuck Bender (16/18), would yield nothing further. Lo and behold…a pocket pair of goals is a winning hand in Week Four…the board was no help to either player. So…a 2-1 bounce back win for Blue/second straight stinger for Green, and yet another easy-on-the-scorekeeper’s-wrist game in the books in Week Four. Just eight goals scored in nine periods of play…likely record low pace for a given SDFHL Sunday (not something I have the patience to look up…just guessing). Whatever the case, the win moves Blue to the top half of the standings, and Green to the lower decks through the first third of the season. Blue will look to continue their ascent against a winless Teal this Sunday, while Green hope to even their record against a tough and tested White side.

The scoring pace rose as the sun set and lights came up over the final two matches of the Week Four slate, and Captain Mostafa Azab’s Red had reason for raised spirits with Josh Wirt FINALLY gracing the lineup to help the cause against (now) the only remaining undefeated team in the league, Captain Luke Wolmer’s Black. Red’s two goals-for and fifteen against had them coming in at an expected 0-2-0, and while increased firepower is just half the battle, it was a half sorely lacking in their two losses to date. Amazingly enough, Red actually led 1-0 in their opener against Gold, and that lead came courtesy of Shawna Hamon. Hamon repeated the feat against Black, putting Red in front first at 3:21 in the first (Eric Caligiuri). Newcomer Riley Mann was quick to respond, however, lacing home his first career SDFHL goal just twenty-four ticks later to draw Black even (Trevor Vick). CONGRATULATIONS, RILEY! The second period was almost all Black, with Captain Wolmer putting his team on top at 6:22 (Mann), Mann adding his career/game second just seconds later (Wolmer), and Trevor Vick padding Black’s advantage with his fourth of the season at 3:46 (Wolmer). Captain Azab himself would cut the lead back to two at 0:12 (Wirt), providing a sliver of hope for a third period Red rally. Trevor Vick’s second of the game at 7:47 all but snuffed out that dream, and while Wirt did convert on the powerplay at 2:07 to cut the lead back to two, that would be as close as Red would get. Will Heinl (12/15) earned the win in his first action of the season in nets (for his actual team, anyway), while Gabe Davenport (11/16) was much steadier in his third career outing, in spite of the loss. It was another first for Riley Mann…his first ‘first star’ honors for his 2 and 1 effort. The trio of Mann, Wolmer, and Trevor Vick are now all nestled in the top ten in scoring, and at 3-0-0, Black have established themselves as ‘the team to beat’, in sole possession of first place going into an intriguing Week Five match with Captain Karns’ Purple. Azab & Company desperately need to find a way to win games (or at least tie them), and they will need Wirt and some extra will to find a way against a 2-1-0 Orange this Sunday.

Jeremy Copp is among the shrewdest, and certainly among the most seasoned captains in league history. Coming out of the Fall League 2025 draft, the consensus (or, at least, the one amongst my brain cells) was that Copp had created another strong contender. A nice balance of offense and defense, solid goaltending, and the ‘new hotness’ in Alex Giummo…a seemingly sure-fire recipe for a solid, if not super season. A Week One 6-3 loss to Green could be chalked up to as-yet-unformed chemistry and a breakout performance from young William Teglia, and a 6-4 Week Three defeat could perhaps be slapped with an attendance asterisk with Captain Copp, Jim LaGrossa, and Josh Tran all out, but there is no ‘asterisk’ column in the standings table, and a failure to launch against Captain Mark Nagy’s Orange in Week Four would find Teal in the unwanted cellar company of the 0-3-0 Red. There were ‘asterisks’ on both sides in the Week Four nightcap, with Teal missing Arnold Gonzales, Josh Tran and Kerri Sevenbergen (TK Mason in, in her stead), and Orange without Captain Nagy and Weston Nawrocki, but it was a pair of star performances that would carry the night, and both of those stars shined for Orange. A scoreless first felt par for the course in this, ‘The Night Of Scarce Scoring’, but a pair of second period snipes from Kalen Hunter (from Eric Willard at 5:15, then unassisted at 3:24) put Orange firmly in front heading into the final frame. The third remained quiet until the late going, when Hunter would complete his hat trick with an unassisted empty-netter at 1:40, seemingly sealing Teal’s fate in the process. Matt Henderson (10/12) remained on the bench the rest of the way, and Gordon Schmidt’s first of the season with 0:53 to play cut the lead back to two, but ultimately served as little more than a lone blemish on another dominant pipes performance for Nick Meglich (25/26). Kalen would add an assist on Willard’s empty netter to wrap the 4-1 win for Orange and cap his first star 3 and 1 outing, as Nagy’s Gang improved to 2-1-0 with a second straight win. The loss drops Teal to 0-3-0, tied for last place as we enter the ‘figure things out, or you’ll be figured out of the playoffs’ middle stretch of the season.

Captain Hima Joshi’s ‘To Boldly Gold’ notched their Week One win against a team whose shields and weapon systems were not at full power, but a Week Two win over an all-hands-on-deck ‘Gaudians Of The Galaxy’ was a sign that Gold may be a sneaky stellar squad this season…

Our cover team was up first in Week Two, as Captain Hima Joshi’s 1-0-0 Gold took on Captain Rob Gaudio’s 1-0-0 White. Both teams came in off a convincing 5-1 win in their respective openers, but Vegas had White as 1.5 goal favorites in this one, based mainly on the potency of The Notorious JGT™ line (Jurgens, Gaudio, Tomaszewski). That line accounted for all five goals and all fifteen points in White’s first outing, and with Mason Holcomb out of the lineup, it would be up to super sub Chuck Bender and Gold’s fully-staffed defense to hold the fort and give Gold a chance to stay perfect. A scoreless first saw neither team muster much in the way of shots and genuine chances, and Mark DeGraffenreid’s second of the season at 6:19 (Vance Morra) in the second came in perhaps the least ‘genuine chance’ fashion imaginable. A loose ball dribbled to the slot, and DeGraffenreid slapped at it wildly, with the resulting errant missile ricocheting off the omnipresent body of Gary Peters and into White’s net. It is often better to be lucky than good, but being great trumps either of those options, and Owen Perks’ greatness was on display again later in the period, with his fourth of the young season at 1:16 (Evan Melcher) doubling Gold’s lead heading into the second break. When Morra scored to make it 3-0 at 8:40 in the third (Perks & Steve Goncalo), Joshi & Company finally began to feel comfortable and confident, but Emily Bennington quickly put Gold back on alert with her first of the season (indeed, the first non-JGT goal of the season for White) at 7:10 (Captain Gaudio & Gary Peters…the first non-JGT assist of the season). Jackson Tomaszewski cut the lead to one with 4:41 to play (Gaudio), stepping up the tension and intensity down the stretch. Neither Bender (16/18), nor Jon Cima (11/14) would allow anything further, though, as Gold held on for a big 3-2 win over a tough White side. The win keeps Gold in lockstep with Black at the top of the early season standings at 2-0-0, while the loss drops White into a SIX way tie for third place at 1-1-0.

Both Captain Jeremy Copp’s Teal and Captain Ryan Karns’ Purple were dealt rather convincing L’s in the first week of Fall League play, and given that Week One attendance for both teams was very good (perfect for Teal, and just one player, Brendan Jew, out for Purple), neither team could afford much in the way of ‘yeah, but…’. Both teams were (of course) out to prove that their first outing was by no means an accurate season forecast, but the ‘yeah, but…’ factor would certainly come into play in this one, as Teal was without Captain Copp, Jim LaGrossa, and Josh Tran. Purple would draw Emily Bennington and Hima Joshi into their lineup to stand in for Leah Gonzales and Pat Gladstone, giving them a full ten against a total of seven on the other bench. The extra bodies meant less fatigue in the Purple ranks, but also greatly increased playing time for one of the league’s deadliest new weapons in Teal’s Alex Giummo. The question became…which of those factors would win out? Carl Vankoughnett opened the scoring for Purple with an unassisted wrister from range that found twine behind a surprised Matt Henderson, but Giummo brought Teal level at 3:52 (Andy Strathman), and the first period shot totals (9-9) served as further evidence that both teams were on equal footing early. The parity persisted through the first half of the second period, with Darin Cerasuolo putting Purple back on top at 9:39 (Geoff Downes), and Jeff Henderson drawing Teal back to a tie at 8:11 (Giummo & Stephanie Ann Palomo Schmidt). Purple’s only season opener missing link, Brendan Jew, linked up with Geoff Downes on his first of the season at 5:36 (Tyler Winstead), and Downes himself would give Purple their first two goal edge at 2:07 (Winstead & Darin Cerasuolo). So…a 3-1 edge in goals, and a 10-5 edge in shots in the second period showed a trend toward the ‘shorthanded Teal will tire’ fork in the road, and Jew’s second of the game at 8:48 in the third (Downes) really had Purple well and truly on the winning path. Giummo was not completely out of gas yet, however, and his second of the game with 7:14 to play (Arnold Gonzales) kept this contest in question…at least for a few more minutes. Vankoughnett would restore the three goal edge with his second of the evening at 4:25 (Darin Cerasuolo), and a very much ‘too late’ and very much ‘too little’ response from Palomo Schmidt at 0:10 (Gordon Schmidt & Giummo) did little to soften the blow of another blowout loss for Teal. Chuck Bender (18/22) outdueled a seemingly off-his-game Matt Henderson (18/24) in the 6-3 Purple win, and Captain Karns & Company now find themselves in that middle of the pack six pack at 1-1-0. Captain Copp’s crew will need to find their footing and catch that middle pack soon, or their ‘Final FronTeal’ will be Week Nine of the regular season.

The middle game pivoted the plot from ‘two teams looking for their first win’ to ‘two teams looking to improve to 2-0-0’, with Captain Luke Wolmer’s Black facing off with Captain John Boddy’s Blue. The attendance asterisks persisted in this game, though, as Black would (once again) be without the services of Ralph Feuer and goalie Will Heinl, while Blue would have to make do without Eli Schonbrun, Erin Plone, Weston Oakley, and…oh, yeah…Captain Boddy, himself. Dorothy Kline stepped in to fill Plone’s spot, but it would be another short-benched struggle, with Blue’s lack of able bodies compounded by the much-anticipated debut of Black’s very able Riley Mann. Mann was certainly sharp, skilled, and shifty in his first career SDFHL game, but the real story in this one was (for the second time in as many games) TK Mason. Mason’s stunning (but, frankly…very fluky and fortunate) goal with 0:12 to play turned the tied (see what I did there) with Orange in Week One, and her second of the season at 8:43 in the first (Captain Wolmer & Riley Mann) had Black in front bright and early. Mann’s assist was his first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, RILEY! The second period saw two more strikes for Black…an unassisted second of the season for Captain Wolmer to make it 2-0, and a Trevor Vick’s third of the season to pad Black’s lead to three at 4:13 (Wasif Hussain & Janice Darlington). The primary helper on Vick’s goal was Hussain’s first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, WASIF! Steve Linke (who REALLY had his hands full all game as the anchor of the Blue defense against a hornets nest of skilled and speedy Black forwards) provided the first response for Blue at 3:25 in the third (Tony Thinh), but that would be the only response for Blue in a valiant, but ultimately vain 4-1 losing effort. That fourth Black tally…why TK Mason, of course! Mason snapped home her third of the season with 0:22 to play (Mann & Hussain), clinching first star honors for Black’s ‘secret weapon’, and inspiring ‘MVP’ chants from the crowd of pirate-flag-waving-goal-celebration-music-playing supporters lined along the glass by the far bench. John Kushneryk (9/10) filled in very admirably for Will Heinl in his first Sunday night SDFHL action since his winning appearance for Red in the Summer League Final, and Chris Tran (16/20) was great (and even seemed in great spirits) in spite of the (very excusable) loss.

No team has as much ‘yeah, but…’ attendance asterisk capital this season as Captain Mostafa Azab’s Red. A 5-1 Week One loss to Gold came with Alec Noraditsky, John Kushneryk, and Josh Wirt all out of the lineup…a 1-2-3 groin-gut-face punch for any team in the league, much less a team debuting a rookie goalie who is still honing his skills (Gabe Davenport). The attendance picture didn’t brighten much (if at all) for Red in Week Two, with Noradtisky and Kushneryk returning, but Sadie Hellstrom joining Wirt on the ‘elsewhere’ roster as Azab & Company turned to face Captain Joel Gattey’s Lime. There’s no gentle way to phrase it…this game was a (Red) blood bath. After mustering just one goal in an opening loss to Blue, Lime was eager to find their scoring stride and even their record, and…well…both of those items were definitely checked off the list. Six unanswered Lime goals rang out in the first…Justin Stege from Brennen Able at 9:49, Nick Vacchio unassisted at 8:16, Janice Darlington from Vacchio and Andrew Hoff at 7:33, Abel from Silas Perks at 5:44, Maureen Ruchhoeft from Abel at 4:03, and Joe Nguyen from Ruchhoeft at 2:36…an absolutely bonkers blitz that meant that this game was all but over after one. Three more Lime goals poured in over the course of the middle frame, and while there is nothing pretty about a 9-0 score, I am choosing to focus on Maureen Ruchhoeft’s night to remember. Ruchhoeft’s second of the game came at 8:56 (Perks & Stege), then Andrew Hoff chimed in with his first career goal (CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW!) from Vacchio at 4:50 before Mo’ capped her first career hat trick at 1:12 (Abel & Hoff). Ruchhoeft’s 3 and 1 earned her POTW honors…a very deserved nod for one of the OG UCSD Rec Gym SDFHLers…CONGRATULATIONS, MO’! The third period found some calm, with Captain Gattey’s first of the season at 8:36 (Abel) FINALLY answered by Red rookie, Alec Noraditsky at 6:37 (Captain Azab). As this was Noradtisky’s first career game, this was also his first career goal…CONGRATULATIONS, ALEC! Young Davenport (16/26) took the trial by fire in stride, while Chris Tran (10/11) held things down in Don Tran’s absence to ice Lime’s 10-1 boat race win. It’s pretty clear that Red will need more out of Davenport if they want to compete, and I (for one) am confident that he has more. The real problem, however, is the missing weapons, and Red absolutely NEEDS Wirt back in the lineup if they are to have any chance at all against a high-powered Black this Sunday.

The nightcap was a return to ‘normal’, with Captain Bao Nguyen’s 1-0-0 Green and Captain Mark Nagy’s 0-1-0 Orange grappling under the lights for two points and bragging rights. Nagy & Company were stung/stunned by the infamous TK Mason Ricochet Rug Pull™ in Week One, while Green rode William Teglia’s first career hat trick to a surprisingly (to me, at least) convincing win over Teal in their opener. My prediction skills have proven pathetic so far this season, but I had this game as a toss up…and (for once) I was actually right. Jon Zygelman scored the lone goal of the first, converting a Teglia feed into a 1-0 Green lead at 7:17. Kalen Hunter responded on the powerplay for Orange at 2:17 in the second (Mark Daquipa & Eric Willard), Captain Nguyen gave Green back the lead twenty-three ticks later (Teglia & Chad Goins), and Kalen Hunter equalized again at 0:57 (Willard). So, with a fun, fast, back and forth pair of periods in the books, the team that could find a way to win the third would win the game. Weston Nawrocki put in an Orange bid for the win at 8:42 (Kevin & Kalen Hunter), but Teglia answered less than two minutes later for Green (Zygelman). The punch-counter punch pattern continued with Orange regaining the lead on Willard’s second of the season at 5:00 (Jenna Chercoe & Kalen Hunter), but there was no Green counter punch thrown (or, at least, landed) this time. Willard’s empty netter with 0:59 to go iced the 5-3 win for Orange, with Nick Meglich (20/23) and his mates breathing a sigh of relief that they would avoid a second straight lightning strike ending and even their record at 1-1-0. Chris Tran (16/20) was an emergency sub for the injured John Kushneryk, earning him ‘hardest working man in the league’ honors by taking part in his FOURTH game of the night (one as a ref, one as a defender, and two as a goalie). Be sure to thank Chris for his dedication to the league next time you see him…THANK YOU, SIR!

Week One was something of a parity sandwich, with the first and last games on the slate going in the books as tight, tense, low-scoring nailbiters, with three thick slices of lopsided lunchmeat in between. The bottom slice of bread/season opener saw Captain John Boddy’s Blue taking on Captain Joel Gattey’s Lime, and with Boddy riding off into the Oregon sunset at season’s end, one might expect him and his mates to have an extra dash of motivation coming in. Ramsey Ksar kickstarted the manifestation of that destiny with the first goal of the season at 2:01 in the first from Eli Schonbrun and a jail-broken Sean Kelly, recording a point in his first action as forward since the Spring 2018 season. Blue dominated the first period shot totals by an 11-3 count, but Lime found their footing to reverse that trend in the second (10-4 shots, in their favor), and finally find a response off the stick of Nick Vacchio at 2:13 (Silas Perks & Brennen Abel). It took just fourteen seconds for Blue to recapture the lead, and who else to do the honors but our season-long player of honor, Captain Boddy. Boddy’s first of the season from Steve Linke and Schonbrun restored his team’s one goal lead…a lead that Chris Tran (13/14) would preserve through a scoreless third to seal Blue’s opening win over Lime, 2-1. A strong effort from Don Tran (17/19) was wasted by a shockingly anemic Lime attack, though much of the credit for that anemia is clearly due to Blue’s defense…keeping Brennen Abel goalless is a remarkable feat. The win has Blue on track to send Captain Boddy out with a bang, but it’s way too early to start labeling any team a Cup contender, especially with close-cut results like this one…a result that would SURELY set the trend for the rest of the evening…

…nope! Our first slice of ‘lopsided lunchmeat’ came next, with Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green facing off with Captain Jeremy Copp’s Teal. Honestly, my preseason thoughts on these teams were that Green would be on the weaker side and Teal would be one of the favorites…proving I know absolutely nothing after nearly thirty years of league play. I suppose I had not factored a possible breakout season for young William Teglia into my math, and Teglia definitely made sure I won’t fail to factor him in, going forward. Teglia’s first of the season at 7:00 in the first (Jon Zygelman) came short-handed, and he added an even strength second at 4:12 (Zygelman & Chad Goins) to push Green to a two goal lead. Joe Malki made it 3-0 Green with an unassisted strike at 2:35, and this one looked to be a legitimate laugher going into the first break. That first break came ONE second after Teal’s first response, however, as the (very) highly-touted newcomer, Alex Giummo, notched his first career goal, and Teal’s first of the season at 0:01 (Gordon Schmidt) to bring hope to a deflated bench and signal a potential tide shift going into the second. CONGRATULATIONS, ALEX! That shifting tide did continue to rise in the second, with Jim LaGrossa cutting the lead to one (Schmidt), but a pair of counterpunches from Chris Malki at 7:57, and Joe Malki at 3:45 (Chad Goins & Chris Malki) put Green back on the crest of a winning wave. Josh Tran would thicken the plot again at 7:04 in the third (Schmidt & Palomo Schmidt), but ‘within two’ was as close as Teal would get, and Teglia’s hat trick-capper with 2:00 to play wrapped the scoring in a convincing 6-3 win for Green over Teal. Chuck Bender (22/25) continued his personal streak of strong play in the win in place of absent net-newcomer, John Kushneryk, while Matt Henderson (20/26) fell victim to Teglia’s triple threat and an otherwise formidable Green attack from start to finish.

The middle layer in this whole sandwich concept that I am (for whatever reason) running with featured Captain Ryan Karns’ Purple taking on Captain Rob Gaudio’s White. True to form, I would have lost my bet that this would be a close game, with Purple edging out White to start their season on a winning note. It actually was a close 2/3 of a game, but White really made that last 1/3 count in their favor. The first ten minutes very nearly slipped past as just the second scoreless period of the night, but Dan Jurgens put White in front with just six ticks to go before the break (Captain Gaudio & Jackson Tomaszewski). Jurgens-Gaudio-Tomaszewski…remember this trio of names…it will be THE theme of this game. Gaudio doubled his team’s advantage at 3:46 in the second (from…yes…Tomaszewski & Jurgens), but Pat Gladstone wristed home the first response from Purple at 2:52 (Carl Vankoughnett & Tyler Winstead) to restore the one goal gap through two. Unfortunately for Captain Karns’ & Company, the Gladstone strike would be the first and last for Purple, and even more unfortunate, White’s three headed dragon was far from done. Gaudio from Tomaszewski and Jurgens at 5:57…Gaudio from Tomaszewski and Jurgens at 3:11…Jurgens from Tomaszewski and Gaudio at 2:12…game, set, match for White, who rode this terrifying trio to a 5-1 boat race win over Purple. All five goals, and indeed all fifteen points produced by White were credited to the scoring firm of Gaudio, Jurgens & Tomaszewski. It generally takes at least a few games to develop that kind of chemistry, but White clearly decided to forgo the ‘getting to know you’ phase. Will Heinl (10/11) earned the win on Jon Cima’s behalf, while Chuck Bender (15/20) absorbed the loss for his actual team on the heels of securing a win in a fill-in roll for Green. Gaudio captured POTW honors with his 3 and 2 statement game, and (of course) the ‘big three’ go into Week Two as co-leaders in the scoring race with five points each.

The third and final slice of ‘lopsided lunchmeat’ was layered on next, with Captain Hima Joshi’s Gold snatching a season-opening win off the very shiny silver platter carried in by Captain Mostafa Azab’s Red. With Josh Wirt, Alec Noraditsky, and John Kushneryk all out of the lineup, and a new/unproven Gabe Davenport in nets, even my poor prognostication skills could not cloud the vision that this was Gold’s game to lose. Red came out strong, though, outshooting Gold 7-5 in the first, and when Shawna Hamon capped the first period push by snapping home a gorgeous feed from newcomer, Ali Nabipour, it brought hand wringing and doubt to a previously pumped Gold bench at the break. The museum piece assist from Nabipour was his first career SDFHL point…CONGRATUALTIONS, ALI! Gold would find their form against a thin and tiring Red side in the second, with Owen Perks bursting in with a brilliant solo effort to tie it at 7:03, and Mark DeGraffenreid wristing a fluke past Davenport at 6:16 to give Gold their first lead (Evan Melcher). Perks struck again at 3:32, completing a give-and-go series with DeGraffenreid, then again to complete his hat trick at 2:02 (DeGraffenreid & Shelby Shattuck). Vance Morra flicked a fifth Gold goal over Davenport’s shoulder with just 0:07 to go in the second (Vinny Santora), and as tough as any late period goal is to swallow, this was a clear and present back breaker for Red. Mason Holcomb (17/18) was VERY sharp from start to finish, and (in spite of a rough second) Davenport was solid in his first career SDFHL start. Neither goalie would allow any further scoring in the third, so 5-1 Gold over Red was the final in this last of three not-so-close Week One contests.

The Week One nightcap…a perfectly-toasted slice of parity bread laid atop our ‘sandwich’ by Captain Mark Nagy’s Orange and Captain Luke Wolmer’s Black. While I did not personally watch every Week One game, I can assure you that this was the most hard-fought, entertaining, and ultimately bizarre hour of hockey in this opening week of play. Trevor Vick struck first for Black at 7:00 in the first (Captain Wolmer), but a late (and very untimely) turnover led to Kalen Hunter’s unassisted equalizer with just 0:09 remaining in the period. A scoreless second saw very close shot totals (10-9 in Black’s favor), signaling a righting of the ship for Orange after being outshot 11-4 in the first. The ship was un-righted again in the third, though, with Black blasting away to the count of 15-6 in their favor, only to allow the first goal of the third at 5:38 (Eric Willard from Captain Nagy) to give Orange their first lead with half a period to play. Captain Wolmer leveled the ledger again at 3:59 (Trevor Vick & TK Mason), setting up a fierce fight to the finish. With just 0:27 to play, it’s safe to say that both teams had resigned themselves to a tie…a well-earned one point for each side…back pats and high fives all around for a valiant non-losing effort. I know that I was expecting nothing else as I dropped the ball in Orange’s zone to close out the final half minute of play. As an Orange defender circled behind that net and aimed a clearing pass out of the zone, we would surely see some standard late game jousting…maybe a late, long range shot on one goal or the other, or….*then it happened*. That Orange clearing attempt…bounced off a forechecking TK Mason, then bounced into the net behind an absolutely stunned and confused Nick Meglich! From 99.9% tie probability to 99.9% Black win probability in a split second. The buzz from this Twilight Zone turn of events had hardly subsided when Trevor Vick pushed the ensuing center ice faceoff forward…and into Orange’s empty net to make it 4-2 Black…the final score in this one, amazingly enough. Kudos to Mason for never giving up on the play, and for earning POTG honors for her 1 and 1 sparkplug performance, but you just have to feel for Meglich (32/35) who was absolutely breakdancing in this one, and really deserved a better fate. Another Mason, Mason Holcomb (17/19), was perfectly happy to benefit from the reciprocal good fortune as a stand-in for Black’s Will Heinl (because Black was facing Orange’s Will Heinl), backstopping his surrogate team to a 1-0-0 season start with his second of two strong performances on the night.

The structure of the SDFHL playoffs is probably not perfect, with the double elimination format meaning that the Final could very well be a back-to-back brawl for it all, but there is something to be said about managing to build a ‘rivalry’ over the course of a mere fourteen weeks of play. The maximum number of times any one team can face the same opponent in this league is four, and Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘CarliforNeons’, and Captain Wendy Enright’s ‘Gilda Redner’ hit that cap, starting with Neon’s 5-1 regular season win back in Week Three. Neon was without the services of Justin Hepler and Mark Nagy in that convincing first meeting win, but Red was without Andy Strathman, Jon Zygelman, and Owen Perks…so, maybe not the best gauge of how the rest of this sizzling series would settle out. Both teams were at full strength (well…almost…Elyse Shattuck was in for her sister Shelby) when Red handed Neon a 4-2 revenge dish that sent the former on to the Final and the latter to the Losers’ Bracket, but after Neon survived a close contest with number two, Baby Blue, we knew we would be treated to at least one more clash of these two titans ‘for all the marbles’. Neon, of course, would need to beat Red not once, but twice to capture the Cup, while Red would just need to repeat their feat from two weeks prior…just one more win to win it all. Neon was on the front foot early, outshooting Red 9-2 through the first period of play, and Ryan Karns finally found twine behind newly-minted goalie and professional Jon Cima stand-in, John Kushneryk, to put the top-seeded underdogs on the board first at 1:20 (Darin Cerasuolo & Jim LaGrossa). Young Darin quickly doubled Neon’s lead at 0:47 (Captain Vankoughnett), leaving Red reeling going into the first break. Amazingly enough, Red committed three penalties in that first ten minute chunk, but both of Neon’s goals game at even strength. Owen Perks produced Red’s first response at 6:27 in the second (Jon Zygelman & Captain Enright), and with the shot count starting to find level (just 9-7 in favor of Neon in the second), it was clear that Red was pushing hard to make this a one and done final showdown. Red held a 12-4 shot edge in the third, and Perks made one of those dozen darts pay off with 7:37 to play (Zygelman & Andy Strathman) to knot the score at twos and set up a frenetic fight to the finish. Both John Kushneryk (19/22) and Chuck Bender (19/21) remained stout and solid under the third period (literal and figurative) heat, but someone would have to emerge a hero in this one, and that someone was Neon’s Captain Vankoughnett. A scrambling series in front of Red’s net saw the ball bound from Shelby Shattuck to Darin Cerasuolo to the Vankoughnett’s backhand in front…back of the net…3-2 Neon with just seven ticks left. Neon rejoiced…Red (and, honestly, the volunteer officials) sighed heavily, and steeled themselves for the rematch…the fourth and final installment of this forged in fire rivalry…

So…down to the final, final game…the last of four in this hotly-contested series, with Neon having won two of three over Red, but (because timing is everything), now finding themselves merely on ‘equal’ footing with their familiar foes as the ball dropped between the two weary sides with the summer sun dropping (mercifully) behind the hills to the west. It was Red who came out fast in the second match, with Andy Strathman converting unassisted on the powerplay at 5:47 in the first, and Jon Zygelman doubling Red’s edge at 3:48 (Tim Vick). Neon found their energy after the first break, and their shot count followed suit, rebounding from just one in the first period to nine in the second. Darin Cerasuolo made one of those nine shots count at 8:50 in the period (Justin Hepler & Jim LaGrossa) to cut the lead to one, but Zygelman’s second of the game at 1:43 (Trevor Vick) restored the two goal advantage heading into the final break in regulation. For all of the tight, tense drama of the regular season meeting and the first two playoff games between these two determined teams, the twelfth period in the series was something of an anticlimax. Owen Perks pushed Red’s lead to three with 7:50 to play (Zygelman & Nguyen), and Tim Vick’s empty-netter with 3:40 remaining was the final nail in Neon’s 5-1 losing coffin. Jon ‘JZ’ Zygelman captured first start honors with his 2 and 1 performance, and John Kushneryk (14/15) earned the respect and admiration of all involved, coming in with VERY little experience to secure the final, Cup-clinching win for Red. Chuck Bender (10/14), Captain Vankoughnett, and the rest of the Neon crew pushed hard from Week One through to the final game, but came up just short. Congratulations to both teams on a great season, and to Red, for winning the ‘right’ two games of this four game saga…