Orange continued their climb out of the basement, notching their second straight win to even their record at 2-2-2 (the proverbial half full/half empty). Their 4-2 downing of Pink was decided in the first period, as a trio of Orange offensive strikes landed to give them a lush lead. Emily Bennington opened the scoring with her first of the season, with Kris Tosczak following just over a minute later, and Joe Nguyen netting the game-winner less than a minute after that. Chris Tullio’s first of the season got Pink on the board in the second, but Nguyen struck again early in the third (this time short-handed), putting things out of reach for good (in spite of a late Tullio encore). Carl Vankoughnett provided the primary on Orange’s first two goal, and Steve Deppensmith earned his first win of the season with a 16/18 effort. Pink are in peril now at 1-5-0, having only managed a win against winless Teal in Week Five. They’ll need a strong showing against Green this Sunday, or it could be time to start making alternate plans for September Sundays…
Week Six…Game Two…game of the season, so far. You’d have found that statement laughable, if you’d left the rink after a laugher of a first period that saw Yellow cruise out to a 4-0 lead. Josh Wirt struck twice, taking turns with Eric Willard and Shawna Hamon in a score-at-will show of power. Captain Mark Nagy led his team back by example, cutting the lead in half with goals less than a minute apart in the early second. Wirt completed the hat trick later in the middle frame, but Matt Rogers third of the season made it 5-3 going into the third. Jordan Pynn provided the next wave of heroics for Brown, cutting the lead to one at 9:32 in the third, then knotting the score with a short-handed stunner at 7:06. A 4-0 Yellow rout job was now a marvelous 5-5 melee…anyone’s game with seven minutes to play. Of course, this game just begged for a dramatic finish, and Mr. Wirt obliged. His fourth of the night, the game-winner, came on a scramble…a wicked backhand roof job from a tough angle…6-5, Yellow…WOW! The wild win keeps Yellow out ahead of the entire field at 5-1-0, while the tough loss is particularly bitter for Brown, who need all the points they can get to scramble to cut line safety from their 2-3-1 perch.
Captain Mark DeGraffenreid gave AnTealfa their first lead of the season at 8:21 in this first. You read that right…their first lead of the season. It wouldn’t last. Steve Jones scored late in the first (1:08), and even later in the second (0:06) to turn the tide for Green. Sadie Hellstrom forced one home to keep Teal daydreaming of a positive outcome, but Mostafa Azab snapped them (rudely) awake with the game-winner in the late going. Empty-netters from Captain Chad Goins and one to complete the ‘hat trick’ for Jones made this one look like a laugher at 5-2, but it was certainly no laughing matter for Teal, who remain careening toward elimination at 0-4-1. The win rights the ship for Green, who had suffered their first loss of the season to Orange the week prior. They will look to continue feasting on bottom feeders in Week Seven, as they take on 1-5-0 Pink. Teal will hope against hope for a good result against Black to keep their season alive. and send Nick Adkins out with style in his final SDFHL game.
The penultimate pairing of the night was a soccer match between Red and Black. Like most soccer matches, it ended in a 1-1 draw. Red’s Chuck Russell was the main reason it was close at all, as he stole a point with a 29/30 showing. Sean Kelly was tested less than half as much at the other end, but earned the same result, stopping 13/14. Joe Malki had Black on the board first (in the first), and Steve Linke second of the season (in the second) was the answer echoing through an otherwise hollow score sheet. The result keeps both teams safely in the middle of the back, both with their bye week behind them, and both primed for the playoffs with five games left to play.
Deborah Finucane shoved the Salt boys out of the scoring spotlight in Week Six, touching twine thrice, and assisting on the game-winner in Navy’s 4-1 waltz past White. That other goal did belong to Zach Salt, so I suppose a sliver of spotlight was shared, after all. Meanwhile, the lone bright spot for White was newcomer, Jon Champine, who scored his first SDFHL goal early in the third to give his team a glimmer of hope. However, with Chris Tran unavailable in nets for Navy (because…well…he plays out for White!), it was a dominant-as-usual Sean Kelly seeing Navy through to the win (24/25). Navy remain in striking distance for the top playoff spot as they head into their bye week, while the loss leaves White in limbo at 2-2-1. Their next opponent carries the same record into Week Seven, with an important second half start at stake for both sides.