Hatched

The Wing League 2025 season cracked open with a battle of birds of similar plumage. Captain Chad Goins was still flying high after a convincing Cup run the previous season, and with most of the same players carrying over (Abel, Tomaszewski, Schmidt, Palomo Schmidt, and of course Teglia and the Goinseses), Red had right and reason to crow confidently coming into a match with Captain Bryan Ossa’s Pink. The ‘FlamingOssas’, while ‘strong on paper’ were in the proving position, but appeared loose and ready for their opener, anxious to debut their ‘stand on one leg goal celebration’™. While said celebration certainly needs some work, Pink were able to practice it bright and early in this one, with Josh Wirt poking home his own rebound to put Pink on top (Mark DeGraffenreid & Sadie Hellstrom). Carl Vankoughnett provided a second opportunity to practice the pose, striking at 4:53 (DeGraffenreid & Mostafa Azab) to double the lead and send a surge of confidence through the Pink bench. That confidence ebbed a bit after 2024 Fall League Final MVP, Jackson Tomaszewski, broke loose on a counter attack and deposited Red’s first response past rookie netminder, Michael Haine. Vankoughnett would restore Pink’s two goal edge at 8:04 in the second (Azab & Captain Ossa), but Tomaszewski was there again to cut it back to one at 2:25 (Josh Tran & Brennen Abel). Late period goals are notorious momentum shifters, and Wirt’s second of the game with just 0:19 remaining would prove no exception (Azab). The late second period strike set off a chain of three Pink goals within the first three minutes of the third…Wirt unassisted…Wirt from Vankoughnett and Pat Gladstone…Gladstone from DeGraffenreid. Steph Palomo Schmidt lodged the only response to this flamingo flurry, converting at 5:36 on the power play (Abel & Tomaszewski) to save some grace and face in an otherwise lopsided 7-3 win for Pink. Jon Cima (10/17) will hope for better from himself and his teammates over the remainder of the season, while Michael Haine (20/23) was steady in victory in his SDFHL debut.

I have always ‘teased’ Tom and Janice that the latter is ‘the better Darlington’, but even the laziest/most biased fact checker in the world would have no choice but to crown Tom’s better half the best player in the match between Captain Zach Siemer’s White and Captain Hima Joshi’s Black. The Associated SDFHL Press (me) went a step further, crowning JD the queen of Week One…and making it a point to ‘tease’ Tom about her prowess after each point she posted. The first such point was the opening goal at 6:40 in the first (Captain Siemer & Steve Linke), and the second was her second of the game less than two minutes later (4:42 from Seimer and Jon Zygelman). Captain Siemer himself would build White’s advantage to three at 2:08 (from Santora, and…yes…Janice ‘The Better’ Darlington), and we all know the odds of rallying from a 0-3 hole with Silas Perks minding the opposing team’s nets. Jon Salt did blast one past Perks with 1:35 to play in the first (Eric Willard & Evan Melcher), but that would be the last ripple of the netting behind ‘The Silencer’™ in this one. Actually, it would be the last goal for either side, as both super sub, Mason Holcomb (12/15) and Perks (19/20) kept clean slates through the remaining twenty to preserve the 3-1 score line, White over Black. While I don’t keep a log, I am guessing this is a first POTW honor for Janice…a very deserving one, and obviously an encouraging sign for a team that is loaded defensively, and somewhat lacking (on paper) offensively. Captain Joshi, meanwhile, will have to hope that the return of Geoff Downes, Wendy Enright, and goalie Will Heinl will produce better results against Blue in Week Two.

Sometimes a loss, and sometimes even a win in sports ‘isn’t pretty’, but Captain Shawna Hamon has guaranteed that none of her team’s games this season will be pretty with the selection of perhaps the most repulsive shirt color to ever (dis)grace our beloved rink. Ugly shirts don’t mean ugly play, per se, and Hamon & Company acquitted themselves rather well through two periods of play, in spite of being rather…grossly outplayed. The combination of Owen Perks, his free-from-the-goalie-gear bother, Silas, and Aaron Cooney was nothing short of a tall, swift, smart, super skilled machine. Mix in a very solid defensive corps with booming point shots (particularly Chris Fiore and Shelby Shattuck), and it is a wonder that Brown held things down as long as they did. When I say ‘wonder’, I mean none other than Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly. Kelly was an absolute beast throughout in this one, but the Orange machine pounded two goals past him in a furious, frenetic first. Both of those goals belonged to Silas Perks, with the first assisted by Shelby Shattuck and Owen Perks, and the second by…Owen Perks and Shelby Shattuck. When Brown’s Jim LaGrossa struck for the only goal in the second, it was beginning to look like Da Kid might steal a point (or maybe two) for Captain Hamon’s crew. Alas, that’s when things got ‘ugly’. Orange’s swirling, swarming offensive presence led to one Aaron Cooney goal at 7:55 (Owen Perks & Maureen Ruchhoeft), then a second Cooney goal at 6:46 (Owen Perks & Silas Perks), then (on theme with this recap) the prettiest goal that Captain Jeremy Copp has ever scored (Ruchhoeft) at 6:11, then one final coffin nail from the birthday girl…Ruchhoeft from Owen Perks & Justin Stege at 5:20. When the dust from the four-goals-in-3:35 flurry had settled, Orange had smashed past Brown by a 6-1 total, with Owen Perks collecting FIVE assists, brother Silas recording 2 and 1, and big 6-0 celebrant, Maureen Ruchhoeft, feeling the birthday vibes with a 1 and 2 outing. So…not a pretty night for Brown, but they can take some solace in an incredible performance from Sean Kelly (maybe the best performance in a five goal loss I have ever seen), and the fact that the likes of Andy Strathman and Kalen Hunter were not in the lineup for this one. Orange is definitely looking pretty…pretty…pretty good, having served notice with just one game that they are (at least, in my opinion) a strong Cup contender.

The late slate pair of games featured shades of blue taking on shades of green. The first pairing, featuring Captain Rob Gaudio’s (Royal) Blue and Captain Joel Gattey’s (Lime) Green was an intriguing one, in that the teams appeared (to me, anyway) to be very even/similarly constructed ‘on paper’. With all Lime players present and accounted for, and Blue missing only the new (and apparently slightly confused) Argentine field hockey transplant, Maive Cantarella, this match would serve as a good early test for both ‘on paper’ teams to see how they would fare ‘on court’ this season. The first period saw no scoring, and very few shots (just six, combined), but the teams really began to engage in the second, with a Kyle Snyder solo effort at 8:35 breaking the scoring seal, and a second Snyder snipe at 7:29 (from ironwomen, Dorothy Kline) pushing Blue’s lead to 2-0 in just over a one minute span. Vance Morra continued where he left off in a breakout Fall 2024 campaign, responding for Lime at 5:34 (Jerry Gonzales & Captain Gattey), but Jason Lee restored the two goal edge for Blue at 3:04 (Trevor Vick & Kyle Snyder). The third period saw twenty combined shots, exactly as many as the other two periods combined, but the score remain unchanged into the late going. Chris Malki finally found a way to bring Lime to within one (Gonzales & Gattey) and the comeback was ON…but quickly OFF, as Snyder completed his hat trick with 1:07 to play (Lee), sealing the 4-2 win over Lime for Blue, and making clear who the most important ‘on paper’ and ‘on court’ name was in this one. Veteran Don Tran (20/22) was steady as ever in nets in the win, while Matt Henderson (14/18) had to resign himself to ‘getting Snydered’ in his season debut for Lime.

It was ‘different shade of blue and green, same result’ in the nightcap, as Captain Ryan Karns (Flint) Blue took on Captain Alan Razoky’s (Kelly) Green. While both of these teams have their share of offensive weapons, I was double and triple taking while typing up this box score, just shocked at the draft haul that Captain Karns managed. That is not to diminish Captain Razoky’s squad, but I feel like Vegas would have had Flint Blue as the favorites in this one, and they may well have them as Cup favorites before long. Erin Plone took the ‘girl power’ torch from Ruchhoeft and ‘The Better’ Darlington, cashing in at 5:45 to put Flint Blue on the board first (Dan Jurgens & John Boddy), but Captain Razoky equalized on the powerplay less than two minutes later (Eli Schonbrun) to leave things level going into the second. That loaded Flint Blue lineup unloaded in the second, with a new goal scorer each time. Boddy put Flint Blue back in front at 8:06 (Ryan Loughran & Jurgens), Ramsey Ksar padded the lead at 6:50 (Luke Wolmer & Mark Scelfo), and — after Brendan Jew brought Green back to within one at 6:29 (Schonbrun & Trice Harvey) — Dan Jurgens restored the two goal edge at 3:46 (Mark Nagy). The third period was quiet…too quiet for a Green comeback, with the lone goal coming courtesy of Luke Wolmer at 7:49 (Ksar & Leah Gonzales)…the fifth unique goal scorer for Flint Blue in a 5-2 victory. Chuck Bender (18/23) was twice as busy in the loss as Don Tran (9/11) was in a fill-in win for the absent Nick Meglich, but the real story for me in this one is the thick, diverse Flint Blue attack. It’s a one game sample size, but I don’t envy Lime in the late game this Sunday…