CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SDFHL FALL 2021-2022 CHAMPS, ‘PURPLE REIGN’!
BACK ROW L=>R Kyra Forsyth (seen here stealing valor as a sub, replacing Amanda Edmonson…who replaced Nadia Saidi Connolly), Phil Nguyen, Justin Stege, Tom Darlington, Matt ‘I’ll Smile When I’m Dead’ Rogers, Cory Samuels Front Row L=>R Janice ‘The Better’ Darlington, Captain Zach Salt, Alex Theis, Luke Wolmer, Aaron Cooney
The SDFHL Fall League 2021-2022 playoffs certainly lacked the piquancy and parity of seasons past. Coming into the Final, only one game (Week Two’s tilt between Grey and Orange) was decided in extra time, and only a scant few of the other dozen games were close enough to warrant pulling the goalie in the final minutes. Scores of 5-0, 6-1, 7-0, and 8-0 made it feel like their was s definite glitch in the draft matrix this time around. Even the first playoff meeting between top two seeds/Final combatants, Green and Purple, ended with a 4-1 walk over win for the latter.
So, suffice it to say that hopes were not high for a thrilling final act, but….*throat clear*…IT WAS FREAKING EPIC! From start to finish, Green was pressing the pace, controlling the majority of the play, and producing nearly twice as many shots as the top-seeded favorites. Alex Theis was an absolute wall in spite of it all, keeping Purple poised and positioned through two scoreless periods. Nick Meglich was no less solid, though not nearly as tested at the other end, and as the clock wound toward the halfway mark of the third, it looked like the first of the two netminders to blink would take the loss.
The blink finally came, and it was Theis, with Chris Malki lifting a (Joe Malki…Sadie Hellstrom) rebound over his fallen frame to put Green up 1-0. Purple would need an answer, or they would be pushed to the brink themselves in a winner-take-all second game. Enter Matt Rogers (seen above beaming with the pride of a true champion). Rogers flashed through the slot, and provided Purple’s response just a minute later (with assists from Aaron Cooney and Captain Zach Salt). Finally…a game worthy of all the playoff pomp and circumstance…just in time to save this installment of the playoffs from ‘worst ever’ status. Could Purple keep the push pulsing, and deliver the dagger, or would Green find a second crack in Theis’ armor and force a sequel? With the clock winding to the final ticks of regulation, it looked like this one was headed to sudden death. That’s when a different kind of sudden death struck Green down, and lifted Purple to the podium. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. Since I don’t have that kind of time….see for yourself. That’s right…end to end rush…Luke Wolmer…Captain Zach Salt…back of the net…game-winner with TWO seconds left!
Congratulations to Captain Zach Salt and ‘Purple Reign’ for capturing the Cup, and thanks to both teams for providing the heart-pounding finish every season deserves. The 2-1 wow factor win for Purple could just as easily have gone Green’s way instead, and who knows what would have happened in that second game. Thanks to perhaps the most insane Final finish ever, no one will never know…