Captain Joe Malki’s Navy cruised into Sunday evening with plenty of weaponry, and plenty of sailor swagger. Unfortunately, they would manage just one goal against Purple. Fortunately, one goal was enough! Unfortunately, they managed zero goals against White. Fortunately, zero goals was enough! ONE goal scored in regulation in their first game, and NONE through regulation and overtime in their second game, and yet they are on to the final against Brown this Sunday. At the risk of sliding into eye-roll-worthy poetic/philosophical blather, it goes to show the power of one. Unfortunately for White, the power of that one seed was not enough to carry them through…
Ashley Herfindahl scored the one and only (non-shootout) goal of the entire night, and super sub Chris Tran (10/10) outdueled long lost cousin, and fellow super sub, Don Tran (9/10) to seal the 1-0 win for Navy over Purple. Donald Chow and Captain Joe Malki assisted on the game-winner, which came at 8:27 in the third period. It was a rollercoaster season for Captain Jon Salt’s Purple Cobras, who went winless in their first four, before a name change and front office shakeup. Navy did not have much time to relish the narrow victory before taking on top-seeded White…
You know by now that nothing of consequence happened through three periods and overtime in the Loser’s Bracket final. What you may not know is that Cory Brin was standing on his head to hold a determined Navy at bay. Brin stopped 29/29, while Chris Tran had a much less taxing night at the other end (8/8). Still, Brin had given his team a chance to prevail in the shootout, as they had done against Green in their playoff opener. That chance went to waste, as a trio of Navy shooters (Chris Malki, Mark Nagy, and Captain Joe Malki) converted their chances, answered only by White’s captain, Jim LaGrossa. The 3-1 shootout decision meant a ticket to the final for the upstart number three seed. They will need to defeat Brown in back-to-back games this Sunday to comlete their surge and capture the Cup. The teams have met just once, with Navy handing Brown their worst loss to date, 3-1…*cue intrigue music*….