Ready Or Not

With the fire, the rains, and the holidays, the Fall 2025 season of SDFHL hockey was longer than most, and for those who missed the playoffs (or were eliminated in mid-December), Wing 2026 could not come soon enough. It was finally time for a new season, a clean slate, and our first opportunity to size up our competition and assess our own team’s chances of capturing the Cup. The opening week schedule kicked off with Captain Nick Meglich’s Sand grappling with Captain Will Heinl’s Purple. If you paid any attention at all last season, you know that Alex Giummo is a very (very) difficult player to contain, and you also know that Captain Meglich has been downright heroic in nets in the past few seasons, often stealing wins for his team in spite of rather lopsided shot totals in his opponent’s favor. That’s a tough combination to overcome, and Purple drew the short straw in facing Sand right out of the gate. The first period nearly came and went with no damage done by either side, but Giummo finally broke through on the powerplay with 0:22 to go (Wendy Enright), giving Meglich & Company a lead heading into the first break. The second period was also mostly quiet, but it was Giummo again at 1:53 (Andy Strathman) to double Sand’s lead, then Justin Hepler producing Purple’s first pushback at 0:55 (Greg Wirth) to cut the lead back to one through two. The third period belonged entirely to Sand, with Giummo completing his first (of no doubt MANY) hat trick of the season at 9:46 (Parsa Mostafavi), Trevor Vick padding Sand’s edge to three at 5:03 (Strathman), and Giummo adding one more for good measure at 2:30 (Erin Plone) to wrap a now convincing 5-1 Sand win over Purple. The shot totals were very close this time around, but Captain Meglich (29/30) proved that his championship form had not faded at all. Captain Heinl (23/28) held about as strong as any goalie can hope to against Giummo, but the dam clearly broke in that third period. The consolation…Heinl will not have to face Giummo again (at least, not for his own team) until the postseason (assuming both of these teams make it that far).

You really don’t want to have to break out the pinnies this early in the season, and apparently Captain William Teglia’s Teal and Captain Ryan Karns’ Green were able to agree that those horrible fluorescent tank tops would not be needed as the color cousins set to do battle in the second game on the Week One docket. In case you missed it, Kyle Snyder is back! The hulking, uber-skilled defender was (apparently) posted as a forward for Captain Teglia’s Teal, and (wherever he played) he wasted little time reminding everyone that he can score. Snyder’s first of the season at 3:16 in the first (Captain Teglia & Stephanie Ann Palomo Schmidt Jr.) put Teal in front first, and Palomo Schmidt quickly doubled that damage at 2:15 (Mostafa Azab). The plot thickened considerably in the second, with Captain Karns himself furnishing the first response for Green…an unassisted strike at 5:55, Snyder snatching the two-goal edge back with his own solo effort at 3:51, then a pair of Green goals…Vance Morra from Carl Vankoughnett at 3:32, and Jackson Tomaszewski from Jenna Chercoe and Ramsey Ksar at 2:18, knotting this sudden scorefest at 3-3. Captain Teglia packed one more goal into the second, his first of the season at 1:27 (Rob LaVigne & Azab) to push his team back in front going into the second break. It was Teglia again early in the third (7:56 from Snyder and Christopher Fiore) restoring the two goal edge, and an unassisted Chad Goins tally to build Teal’s lead to a tough-to-topple three with half a period to play. Indeed, that three goal lead would not be undone, but Captain Karns was able to register one last counterpunch with 0:14 to go (Tomaszewski & Ksar)…his second of the game…although he wanted me to mention that he actually registered his first career hat trick…if you count own goals in that feat. I am not sure which of the opponent’s goals should be credited to Captain Karns, but the 6-4 win goes to Jon Cima (13/17) and Teal. Matt Henderson (14/20) and Green will surely rebound (unless my read/comparison of the ten teams ‘on paper’ is way off), and their Week Two test will come with Captain Owen Perks returning to lead a stout looking (but also 0-1-0) Blue side.

The Week One middle game would be a showdown between Captain Nick Vacchio’s Gold and Captain Josh Wirt’s Red. Among the likely motivations for captaining a team this season…both captains missed the playoffs last season with Lime and Red, respectively. So, an early chance at some redemption, and a chance for both captains to prove that their wisdom at the draft table and their leadership on the rink would make for a more competitive and enjoyable season. Captain Vacchio certainly put that leadership on display in the first, notching his first of the season at 7:08 (Luke Wolmer), then his second at 2:29 (Wolmer) — I suppose the ‘draft table wisdom’ would be Vacchio’s choice of Wolmer as a linemate. A scoreless second saw Red outshoot Gold 6-2, and a 12-2 Red edge in shots in the third might lead you to believe that Captain Wirt & Company had managed to tie, or even take the lead in the final ten minutes of play. John Kushneryk (22/22) refuted that math, stopping everything he faced to preserve his team’s lead in spite of Red’s potent and persistent push. Wolmer would add an unassisted empty net goal with 1:53 to go, wrapping a 1 and 2 effort that paced Gold to a 3-0 win in their opener. Chuck Bender (6/8) absorbed the loss in Don Tran’s absence, and while Gold’s single digit shot count made him nearly a third as busy as his counterpart, it’s impossible to win (and hard to even tie) a game in which you do not score. Captain Wirt and Red certainly have the names to win games, and they will be hungry to prove that they can score when they face Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black, while Captain Vacchio and Gold will look to stay on the winning track against Captain Heinl’s 0-1-0 Purple.

With ninja netminder Sean Kelly out with a wrist injury, and Captain Kalen Hunter informing his mates Sunday morning that he, Papa (Kevin) Hunter, and young speedster Austin Szymanski would all be elsewhere as well, confidence was not exactly sky high for Black coming into their season debut against Captain Brennen Abel’s White. The more than capable substitute presence of Chris Tran in the pipes, and Hima Joshi stepping in for (the also injured) Kerri Sevenbergen gave Black a hint of hope that a light, Kalen-less crew could come through and cash in with a Week One win. Arnold Gonzales swelled that hope a bit at 4:17 in the first (Mark DeGraffenreid)…a controversial goal on a play that was close to, if not definitively offside. White would hold a 17-8 edge in sots through two periods of play, but the second period saw Black double their lead with DeGraffenreid’s first of the season at 5:42 (Pat Gladstone) sandwiching a Rob Gaudio response for White (4:30 from Jim LaGrossa) with an unassisted John Kushneryk conversion. DeGraffenreid’s second of the game at 8:38 in the third (Josh Tran & Kushneryk) pushed Black’s lead to 4-1, and Tran would make it 5-1 with a lone wolf effort at 8:15. White is certainly not lacking for playmakers and goal scorers, and just when this one was looking like a laugher, Rob Gaudio made it 5-2 (Captain Abel & La Grossa) at 6:44, before Captain Abel cut the lead to two at 2:25 (Gaudio & LaGrossa). Chris Tran (20/23) would hold strong the rest of the way to preserve the 5-3 win, with Black feeling as though they had staged quite the coup in the absence of their uber-skilled captain. Gabe Davenport (8/13) shouldered the loss for White in what is the first game of the ‘Young Canuck Cup’. Yes, folks…I am working on acquiring some hardware for a little side prize between Captain Abel, Captain Hunter, and Captain Perks. Whoever earns the most points in that triad will be showered with Smarties, ketchup chips, Kraft dinner, bragging rights, and some sort of trophy (TBA).

The Week One slate wrapped with what I jokingly referred to as the ‘Gender Reveal Bowl’, thinking that (my fellow referee) Josh Tran’s wife had not yet given birth. Well…she had, and…GIRL! So…bit of a spoiler, with Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink now feeling like a lock against Captain Owen Perks’ Blue. The actual reason Pink might be brimming with confidence as warmups wrapped was the absence of said Blue captain…another casualty of the drive back from Yosemite…the same ill-fated commute that caused Captain Hunter and Austin Szymanski to miss their game. Team Girl did get on the board first, with Eric Willard converting at 3:54 in the first (Shelby Shattuck & Chuck Bender (!)), but Team Boy rallied back in the second with goals from Justin Stege at 5:06 (Dorothy Kline), and Wasif Hussain at 3:51. Greg Francisco would equalized for Team Girl at 1:28 (Jon Salt & Captain Cerasuolo), sending the tied teams into a third period to finally decide that already decided Tran baby gender. Sure enough…Team Girl…ironically in the form of double-dude-dad and recently returned legend (in his own mind, at least), Jon Salt. Salt put Pink back in front at 9:36 in the third (Chris Tran & TK Mason), and Chuck Bender (13/15) kept his team’s destiny dialed in from there…Team Girl over Team Boy, 3-2. Mason Holcomb (12/15) was his typical sharp self, but Pink’s baby mojo and/or the absence of Blue’s leader/captain/best player (it’s tough to figure which carried more weight) would ultimately spoil his season start.