Gold Star

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!