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Week Three opened with our Week Two cover team, Captain John Boddy’s 2-0-0 ‘Night At The PinkDeBerry’, taking on Captain Tyler Winstead’s winless ‘It’s Not Grey In A Threeway’. It is certainly still early in the season, but Pink’s 9-2 edge in goals scored coming in had to be a concern for Grey, and the absence of their skipper didn’t exactly help the ‘limit the damage’ outlook against the league’s top offense out of the gate, but…you never know. Well, I do know, actually, because it is five days later, and the box score has been posted since Monday. This one went about as you might have expected, with Captain Boddy breaking the scoring seal at 1:15 in the first, then adding an unassisted second strike eleven seconds later. Boddy’s first was assisted by newcomer-to-our-league-but-certainly-not-to-hockey, Liv Bryant. It was Bryant’s first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, LIV! Bryant was not done, though, as she pushed the lead to 3-0 with her first career SDFHL goal at 1:16 in the second…CONGRATULATIONS, LIV! Boddy and team namesake, Matt DeBerry, had the helpers on Bryant’s milestone tally, and Pink rolled into the third with a commanding three goal lead and a 19-9 edge in shots. Boddy would cap his hat trick at 7:46 in the third (Jackson Tomaszewski), and cap the scoring in the process, with Will Heinl (15/15) and Pink cruising to a third straight win to open the season, 4-0 over Grey. Don Tran (20/24) was steady as you like at the other end, but with just two goals to show for now nine periods of play, it is no wonder that Grey has yet to hit the win column. Winstead & Company now sit at 0-2-1, sharing cut line real estate with Royal Blue as we enter into the middle third of the season. Obviously, nothing is a ‘must win’ at this stage in the proceedings, but anything but a win over dead last White this Sunday would be devastating for Grey. Pink, by contrast, are already closing in on the typical ‘magic number’ of nine points to lock up a playoff spot, and will face what should be a good challenge in Will Heinl’s other team, Baby Blue, this weekend.

Captain Sean Bathgate’s ‘Turd Bergenson’ were Pink’s first victim of the season, a 6-2 drubbing that the victors used as a springboard into a strong start, and left Brown wondering aloud if they were in for the proverbial ‘long season’. A much closer loss to Neon in Week Two (a game in which Brown had the better of the play) was encouraging, but moral victories do not count in the standings, and Bathgate & Company set out to snatch their first win from the jaws of a third straight undefeated opponent in Captain Rob LaVigne’s ‘MacBlueber’. As fate would have it (because fate apparently hates Brown), Baby Blue would have both of their biggest offensive weapons in the lineup for this match, with Luke Wolmer making his season debut alongside super stud speedster sniper, Kalen Hunter. Cue the inspirational underdog music, which simmered in a scoreless first, but swelled a bit with Mark DeGraffenreid’s first goal of the season…a strange sequence in which super sub Don Tran played a dumped ball softly behind his own net, only to have DeGraffenreid collect it, wrap it, and deposit it to make it 1-0 Brown with 1:37 to play in the second. The underdog music clicked up a few notches with DeGraffenreid’s second of the game, a blind, spin around wrister from the half boards that found twine to make it 2-0 (Josh Wirt & Chris Tran), and LaVigne & Company never did strike a chord of retaliation, with Chris Tran’s (literal) last second empty-netter sealing a big 3-0 win for Brown over Baby Blue. Matt Henderson (19/19) (shout out to one of the most loyal front page readers in the league) was superb in his return from injury, keeping a stout offense off the board throughout to finally lift his mates out of the basement and into the win column. Don Tran (15/17) was sharp in a sub stint for Chris Tran…who was not in nets for Baby Blue because he was busy notching 1 and 1 against his other team…such a twisted little league we have. Brown will hope to even their record at 2-2-0 this Sunday as they clash with Captain Teglia’s 0-2-1 Royal Blue, while Baby Blue will need to regain their scoring touch, and hope for a triumphant return for ‘The Prodigal Tran’™ as they take on budding juggernaut, Pink.

Our Week Three cover team took to the court next, with Captain Carl Vankoughnett’s ‘CarliforNeons’ hoping to defend their perfect record against Captain Wendy Enright’s 1-1-0 ‘Gilda Redner’. Neon’s perfect start had not been the result of the kind of dominance that fellow attic dwellers, Pink, had established in their first third, with a 3-2 win over Green in Week One followed by an empty-net-aided 3-1 topping of Brown. So, with Justin ‘The Albatross’™ Hepler and Mark Nagy out of the lineup, Captain Carl probably didn’t love his team’s chances of keeping pace with Boddy’s Bunch…until he arrived to find that Red would be without the services of three of their best. Andy Strathman, Jon Zygelman, and Owen Perks were all elsewhere as warmups wrapped, and the rest of Neon’s scoring stars commenced lip licking, hoping to pounce on a short-benched, powered-down opponent. Neon did just that, but it was a new hero doing most of the scoring on his way to a sparkling POTW performance. Enter young Darin Cerasuolo…teenaged son of veteran blueliner and proud papa teammate, Anthony. Darin struck first for Neon at 2:58 in the first (Vankoughnett & Jim LaGrossa), then, after LaGrossa’s first of the season made it 2-0 at 1:19 (Vankoughnett), added his second with just ten clicks left before the break (Vankoughnett & LaGrossa). These were Darin Cerasuolo’s first and second career points, and first and second career goals in the SDFHL…CONGRATULATIONS, DARIN! Tim Vick responded for Red at 6:19 in the second (Trevor Vick & Joe Nguyen), but any hopes of a Red rally were quickly snuffed by Captain Vankoughnett’s second of the season at 5:22 (LaGrossa). The third period featured just one goal, and that one goal belonged to ‘DC’…Darin Cerasuolo completing his first career SDFHL hat trick at 9:47 (Vankoughnett & Shelby Shattuck), and providing some not-so-needed padding…CONGRATULATIONS, DARIN! Incredibly enough, a near weaponless Red managed to outshoot Neon 21-14, but Chuck Bender (20/21) was up to the task, keeping Neon comfortable throughout in a smooth and easy 5-1 win. Jon Cima (9/14) suffered the loss for Red, who fall below .500 for the first time this season at 1-2-0. Perks’ attendance projection was a known cause for concern for Captain Enright coming in, and the big gun is slated to miss his second straight this Sunday in a key middle ground matchup with Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. Vankoughnett & Company will look to stay perfect against Purple in another Hepler-free week, but with the rise of the Darin Cerasuolo, the Sunday forecast is looking bright for Neon this season, with or without ‘The Albatross’™

Jerry Gonzales suffered a knee injury at some point in the Wing League 2025 Final, and he was sorely missed while nursing that sore knee back into a usable state over White’s first two weeks of play. Captain Meglich was sharp in nets in both the 2-0 Week One loss to Purple and the 3-2 Week Two loss to Pink, but with J-Gon gone, and presumed one-two punch of Rob Gaudio and Eric Willard accounting for just one goal and one assist combined through two games, White found themselves edging towards desperation coming into a Week Three showdown with Captain Bao Nguyen’s Green. The good news for White…Gonzales would make his season debut, and while he was reportedly looking a bit limited in his play, the better news is that he scored a goal. The bad news for White…that Gonzales goal at 9:21 in the third (Gaudio & Willard) was the only goal they would manage. The worse news…Green scored four. Newcomer Dave Bourgouin put Green on the board bright and early, scoring his first career SDFHL goal at 7:39 in the first (Brennen Abel & Mostafa Azab). CONGRATULATIONS, DAVE! Abel would follow with one of his own less than two minutes later to make it 2-0, then provide the primary assist on Sadie Hellstrom’s second of the season at 1:36 (Bourgouin with the second assist…his first career SDFHL assist). A scoreless second led up to the aforementioned Gonzales response early in the third, and Hellstrom capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 0:02 to play (Bourgouin). Sean Kelly (15/16) was his customary studly self in the 4-1 Green win, while Captain Meglich (24/27) and White were left with a third straight loss to start the season, and (worse) the sinking feeling that this might just be the tip of the losing ice berg. Now dead last, and the only team without a point in the standings, Meglich & Company will need to begin their scramble to playoff safety this Sunday against an 0-2-1 Grey. A win would not only bounce them off the bottom of the standings board, but might inject some much needed confidence into the ranks. Green, meanwhile, will look to improve on their 2-1-0 record and move firmly into the upper crust of the standings with a win over 1-2-0 Red in the ‘Stop & Go Showdown’ to open Week Four.

Two similarly-shaded sides played under the lights to wrap the Week Three night, with Captain William Teglia’s 0-1-1 Royal Blue taking on Captain Mason Holcomb’s 1-1-0 Purple. Both teams had managed just two total goals in their first two outings, with the former having tied 1-1, then lost 5-1, and the latter having won 2-0, then lost 3-0. Any team backed by Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks can remain confident that they will compete even in lean offensive times, but with Perks out of the lineup for a second straight week, it would be up to ‘The OG Silencer’™, Sean Kelly, to prevent an offensive awakening for Purple and propel Royal Blue to their first win of the season. Considering the offensive anemia plaguing both teams coming in, this one was much wilder and looser than you would have predicted. Jon Salt broke the scoring seal with his second of the season at 4:30 in the first (Tony Thinh), and ‘Da Kid’ did his part in stemming the Purple pushback, in spite of facing twelve shots to his counterpart’s five. The same Salt-Thinh combo accounted for the game’s second goal, swelling the positive vibes on a short Royal Blue bench at 7:18 in the second. Joe Malki was first to answer for Purple at 7:00 (Chris Malki), and Christopher Fiore was second just 0:45 later (Chris Malki & Shawna Hamon) to knot the score at twos going into the second break. The first half of the third ground along with Purple punishing Royal Blue with pressure and shots (ultimately winning the shot battle by a gross 35-10 margin), but Kelly kept his temporary mates in the game as well as you could expect from any goalie, The Silencer™ included. The building pressure finally produced Purple’s first lead of the game, with Zach Siemer converting a Craig Russell feed into paydirt with 5:50 to go. Chris Malki’s tenacious effort in front produced a blue collar boost to 4-2 at 4:14 (Joe Malki & Hima Joshi), and an absolutely unreal laser from the point off the stick of Russell made it 5-2 Purple with just 0:47 to play (Steve Linke & Fiore). Tony Thinh would cap a valiant three point night with his first of the season on a quick put-back with 0:18 to play, but Captain Holcomb (7/10) and Purple would hold on for the 5-3 win. Captain Teglia would get the news of his team’s second defeat in three tries via text, as he, Janet Goins, Chad Goins, Steph Palomo Schmidt, and (or course) Silas Perks were all elsewhere on June 8th. Kelly would finish with a 30/35 line, and I am confident that Perks could not have done more, especially in the second game of a back-to-back. Perks will be out again this Sunday, and Royal Blue will turn to Don Tran to backstop a better result against Brown. Purple will hope to keep the scoring hand hot and hand Neon their first loss of the season as we enter into the middle stretch of the Summer 2025 campaign.