The four and five seeds squared off in 3:30 showdown to kick off the Week One slate. With five games scheduled for the first time in SDFHL history, this early start time would all but guarantee that all games would wrap before lights out, even if (scoff) every game went into OT and/or shootout. The first period saw furious back and forth action, with Brian Sheptycki putting Gold up one just 0:11 in, Nick Vacchio responded just 0:26 later, then added a second at the 8:10 mark. Ezra Cohen evened matters at 2-2 minutes later, but Chris Malki snatched back the lead for Green to close out a wild first frame. A scoreless second saw Nick Meglich (36/39) add eleven saves to his impressive nightly total, and both goalies kept things clean all the way through the third, as well…well…almost clean, and almost all the way through. With just 0:05 left on the clock, Vinny Santora converted a sparkling feed from Brian Sheptycki, sending his bench into a frenzy, and sending the first game of the night into overtime. The five minutes of bonus hockey produced no winner, so it was on to the shootout. Recent Jerry Gonzales replacement, Dale Stuzka, and Chris Malki came up empty in the first round, Ezra Cohen and Nick Vacchio were sent off scoreless in the second round, then Brian Sheptycki and Captain Joe Malki matched markers in the third round. It was the regulation hero reprising his role in the fourth round, as Vinny Santora cashed in to give Gold a 2-1 edge. Tom Darlington failed to match Santora on his turn, and a blank-blank round from Sadie Hellstrom and Jeanine Stuzka meant that Gold would finally, incredibly, prevail 4-3 in a marathon thriller over Green. So much for the early start…one game in, and the 4:30 game would now be starting at about 5:05…tick tock…
The second game was much of the same…very close…too close for regulation to decide. Pat Gladstone picked the right time for her first goal of the season, and that time was 0:05 remaining in the first. ‘The Matts’ (DeBerry and Gottfried) collected assists on that goal, and ‘The Gottfrieds’ (Kaity and Matt) assisted on Captain Jon Salt’s early second period goal to make it 2-0, Pink. Carl Vankoughnett cut the lead in half minutes later, and Mostafa Azab brought Atomic Blue even early in the third. Sean Kelly (20/23), and Nick ‘The New Wayne Wong’ Vacchio (15/17) kept things level the rest of the way, and we were on to OT for the second time in as many games. Mercifully, this one didn’t stretch deep into OT and beyond, as Luke Wolmer netted the game-winner on the power play just fourteen seconds into extra time (assists to Zach Salt and Kyra Forsyth). The 3-2 overtime Atomic Blue win over Pink was certainly a stunner, and will no doubt also haunt Captain Salt’s Thanksgiving table for years to come. The two seeds now find themselves on the Loser’s Bracket side of the fence, after losing their first game since their May 1st opener. Atomic Blue stride on to the Winner’s side of the picture, and will look to topple three-seeded, Orange to continue their sneak attack on the throne this Sunday.
On to game three…now running over an hour behind…tick…tock. Enter Blue and White, the first ever participants in a ‘play-in’ game in league history. Blue won their first two games of the season, then slid into a deep funk to finish in the eight spot at 2-5-1. White…the only team with a worse record at 1-6-1, but also having collected their only regular season win at Blue’s expense. Alan Razoky was in his old first round form in this one, accounting for all three Blue goals (with Mark DeGraffenreid providing all three primary assists), but White had an answer for every Razoky question. Josh Wirt, Harsh Wanigaratne, and Jeff Chen each provided one of those answers to bring regulation to a close with YET ANOTHER tie. Cory Brin (17/20) was almost twice as busy as Chuck Bender (8/12), but the important number is overtime goals against. Brin won that battle, as Wirt got loose and delivered the last nail in Blue’s Sprummer coffin with 0:18 remaining, playing White into the playoffs with a 4-3 OT win. It was clearly never really meant to be for Captain Ryan Karns and ‘Karnsma Police’, while White’s ability to beat them was the key to the ‘real’ second season…starting right away against top-seeded Grey…
Shockingly (sarcasm), it was another tight, nail-biting tilt between a rested Grey, and a worn, but warm White. If you’re scoring at home, this game started closer to 8:00 than 7:30…it was originally scheduled for 7:00…tick…tock. A scoreless first bled into a scoreless second, and White had to be waiting for another wow moment to complete a staggering opening night coup. That moment never came, as Parsa Mostafavi (11/11) held the fort, and held off a hard-charging Wirt to lead Grey to a 1-0 win. It was Rob Gaudio (from Jim LaGrossa and Brandon Olsen) doing the only damage to Cory Brin’s stat line (14/15), but the lone goal would be the game-winner, as regulation finally, mercifully, produced a winner. White remain alive in the playoff picture, but face a tough challenge in Green in Week Two. Grey march on to face #5 Gold, whom they bested 3-0 in Week Seven.
TIck tock…definitely up against the clock now, as Orange and Lime wrapped warm-ups at around 8:45. Vance Morra was absolutely on a mission out of the gate for the underdogs, accounting for the only goal in the first, and snapping a second past Chris Tran to give ‘SubLime’ a 2-0 lead through two. Well…almost through two. Chuck Russell sneaked a retaliation in with 0:14 to go in the middle stanza, then brought Orange even early in the third (from Gary Peters and David Schlatter). This is going to shock you, but…that’s how regulation would end, with a 2-2 tie, and the clock hands spinning swiftly towards ‘lights out’. At approximately 9:43, Gary Peters struck to turn the lights out on Lime 3-2, with Chuck Russell on the primary assist to earn the primary star of the night with 2 and 1 totals. The loss was not without an impressive silver lining for Lime. They (somehow) managed to hold Eric ‘The Sherriff’ Herrmann to ZERO points, and David Schlatter to one measly second assist. Steve Linke earns an honorary star for having a heavy hand in that feat, and Lime will need him at his best, and a stellar sub showing from Don Tran again to survive Captain Jon Salt and a hungry-for-vengeance Pink. Chris Tran (9/11) and Orange move on to face upstart Atomic Blue in Week Two, with the their regular season 6-1 Schlatter-less smash job serving as copious confidence fuel.