Captain Joshi’s Pink, and Captain Siemer’s Tie Dye sides both had designs on breaking into the W column in Week Four. A win for Pink would snap their two game tie streak, would prove that they could actually beat an opponent, and would give them some early season comfort with four points (good enough for fifth place). A win for Tie Dye would snap a two game losing streak, and scrape them off the basement floor of the standings. As fate would have it (fate is kind of a cynical, sarcastic dick face with a bad sense of humor), neither team would get their win. Old Man Gary Peters slapped home a Tom Darlington feed to give Tie Dye a mid first period lead, but Mark DeGraffenreid tucked home a pinpoint Eric Willard cross to tie it just over a minute later. Chris Tran was superb in nets, stopping 18/19, and wiping his brow that the likes of Alan Razoky and Brian Sheptycki were not in attendance. Mark Boulanger was less busy, but no less effective at the other end, stopping 7/8, and getting some help from the pipes to preserve the 1-1 tie. Both teams will surely need to be better in the second half of the season, and it all starts with that first win. It may not happen this Sunday for either team, as Pink will square off with 3-1-0 Green, and Tie Dye will take on 3-1-0 Orange.
Captain Mark Nagy led the charge in his team’s first win of the season, scoring twice, and assisting on goals by Jim LaGrossa and Josh Wirt. LaGrossa’s second of the evening proved the game-winner, and Danielle Franco-Morrison got in on the fun in the 6-2 trouncing of short-benched Gold. Christian LeClair earned his first career SDFHL victory with a 15/17 performance, allowing only a brief third period surge from Chris Turner and Connor Miller. Matt Henderson did his best for Gold (23/29), who were without Captain Janet Goins, Chad Goins, Nick Adkins, Kamal Gill, and Troy Ferguson. Ferguson is now lost for the season with a plantar fascia tear…the hits keep on coming. Still, every team is very much still in the hunt, and Gold will look to turn the beat around against Lime in a big Week Five match up.
Andrew Jacobsen can usually do it alone, but Nick Vacchio tried that role on for size in Week Four, scoring both goals for Orange in a 2-1 win over AJ’s Black. Jacobsen did have the lone tally in the losing cause, accounting for the only blemish on the night for super sub Mark Boulanger (26/27). Don Tran took the tough loss at the other end (20/22), leaving Black in the middle of the pack at 1-2-1. Orange pull into Week Five at 3-1-0, but will be without the services of Rob Sangha in this week’s tilt with Tie Dye. Sangha will be serving a one game suspension for his actions in a Week Three loss to Purple. Black make the turn into the second half against that very same Purple team, who will themselves be looking to rebound from a Week Four loss.
They say ‘the rich get richer’, and Captain Pynn’s ‘Eight-Ball Bender’ are definitely ‘the rich’ this season. Goals by Carl Vankoughnett (1 and 2), Ryan Owen (1 and 1), Jon Zygelman (1 and 1), and Steve Linke (1 and 2) kept White comfortably paced on offense. The defense gave Lime nothing, and Chuck Bender cruised to yet another shutout, stopping 21/21 in the 4-0 win over listless Lime. The staggering stats continue to mount for White, who sit at 4-0-0, with 17 goals for, two goals against, a +39 shot differential, and three shutouts in four tries. ‘Wirt, Min & Fire’ jump out of the frying pan of their first win, and into the White hot fire in Week Five. Call me crazy, but I have money on a big upset…
Green went down to White in Week Three, but not without a fight (they have accounted for the only two goals against White this season). Captain Noceti and company were out for revenge in Week Four, and Purple picked the wrong Sunday to wander across their path. The law firm of Jones & Jurgens made Purple pay heavily on court, with the former dropping 3 and 2 gavel, and the latter slapping on 2 and 3 set of cuffs. Bill Casey (1 and 2) and Alaa Razoky (1 and 1) played key supporting roles in the 7-0 Purple punishment, Captain Salt & Company’s first loss of the season. Andrew Lockard secured his second shutout of the season, stopping all thirteen shots he faced. Chuck Bender did not fare nearly as well without his White mates in front of him, suffering the lopsided loss in Cory Brin’s stead with a 16/23 line. Brin is hopeful to return from a concussion this week, when Purple will look to get back on track against Black.