Rock Bottom

An early season losing streak is better than a late season losing streak, but an 0-3-0 start is obviously something that every team hopes to avoid. If nothing else, getting that first win, or at least that first point in the standings gives you at least a sliver of confidence, and provides some foundation on which to build. Captain Owen Perks’ Blue came in to Week Three play at 0-2-0, having dropped their opener against Pink 3-2, and their encore effort to Green 2-1. So, some solace in ‘close’, but growing concern over ‘no cigar’. Captain Will Heinl’s Purple looked to build off their first win of the season…a late, stunning comeback to beat Gold 4-3 in Week Two. Justin Hepler put Purple on the board first with his fourth of the season at 3:40 (Tom Darlington), and when Ty Pereira doubled the damage just 0:27 later (Hepler), it was looking like another case of the Sunday Blues for Perks & Company. Wasif Hussain finally found an answer for Blue…his second of the season at 1:20 in the second, and Hussain would provide the second assist on Captain Perks’ first (!) of the season at 6:59 in the third (Craig Russell with the primary). The score stayed on level footing the rest of the way, in spite of a VERY slanted shot count in Blue’s favor (31-11), as Captain Heinl (29/31) willed (see what I did there) his team to a 2-2 tie. Mason Holcomb (9/11) was considerably less tested at the other end, but did enough to earn Blue their first point in the standings. Amazingly enough, that lone point actually has Blue above the cut line through the first third of the season. That position will be put to the test this Sunday when the ball drops on the next installment of the ‘Young Canuck Cup’ with Captain Perk’s Blue taking on Captain Abel’s White.

Captain Darin Cerasuolo’s Pink and Captain Ryan Karns’ Green had each experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat coming into Week Three play, and the teams shared similar goals for/against lines as well (both with six goals for and Green having allowed just one more goal against with seven). So…early season, same record, similar offensive and defensive track records…dog fight to the last minute of the third, right? Wrong. Very wrong. I mean, the first five minutes were a 0-0 paragon of parity, but that’s about the time that Captain Cerasuolo chose violence. Darin’s first of the game came at 4:39 in the first (Eric Willard & Jason Olver), and he popped a second at 0:37 (Chris Tran). The Olver assist was his first career SDFHL point…CONGRATULATIONS, JASON! Olver promptly decided he’d like to record his first career SDFHL goal at 7:48 (Leah Gonzales & Chris Tran…please reread the end of the last sentence for an encore back pat for the newcomer), staking Pink to a three goal lead. Jackson Tomaszewski provided the first retaliation for Green at 7:23 (Carl Vankoughnett & Vance Morra), and the teams exchanged goals for the balance of the middle period…Pink’s Jon Salt from Tran at 3:40, Green’s Jenna Chercoe at 1:34 (Captain Karns), and Salt again from Captain Cerasuolo at 0:40 (NOTE: another late period gut punch). The first half of the third period went by as quietly as the first half of the first, but Salt broke the scoring silence with his third of the game at 4:20 (Gonzales & Captain Cerasuolo) to expand Pink’s lead to a commanding, if not crushing 6-2. Morra cut the lead back to three at 2:42 (Vankoughnett), but Pink would flip the OVERKILL button in the waning minutes…Willard from Captain Cerasuolo at 1:40, Captain Cerasuolo from Willard at 0:57, and a FOURTH goal and SEVENTH point for Cerasuolo at 0:10 (Tran) to cap a stunning performance that screamed ‘parity, schmarity’. The 9-3 beatdown moves Pink to 2-1-0, and also puts them in lockstep with Sand for the team goal scoring lead with fifteen. Captain Cerasuolo was a slam dunk choice for POTW, and Chuck Bender notched his second win of the season with a 16/19 outing. Matt Henderson (12/21) absorbed every ounce of Pink’s brute force…no doubt with his customary aplomb (the man is stoic, folks). As lopsided as the final was, it does not count as any more than one win, and one loss. Green will hope to erase the memory of this ordeal this Sunday against a winless Red, while Pink look to perpetuate their parade of punishment against a 1-1-1 Purple.

The only thing rougher than the batch of team names churned out this season has been the plight of Captain Brennen Abel’s White. Actually, that’s not entirely true, Abel’s Crew had not one, but two winless teams with which to share the standings basement coming into Week Three, meaning that a win, or at least a point might serve as not only a boost to morale, but a boost above the cut line and into the playoff fray. Captain Nick Vacchio’s 1-1-0 Gold stood in the way of that boost, and an early goal from Captain Vacchio himself at 7:27 in the first (Steve Pugliese & Vinny Santora) had Abel and his mates feeling like it would be deja vu all over again. Jim LaGrossa registered a response for White at 3:46 in the first (Rob Gaudio), and when a scoreless second came and went with White actually holding a slim edge in shots (16-14), the stage was set for a rousing wrestle into the win column for White. Alas, Old Man (Steve) Linke had other plans, converting on a powerplay with 9:47 to play after notorious goon, Jenna Chercoe, was sent off for a vicious interference infraction. Captain Vacchio notched the lone assist on the Linke goal which would turn out to be the game-winner in the 2-1 Gold win. A second Gold win meant a third straight loss to open the season for Gabe Davenport (16/18) and White, and while Davenport did not feature as one of the three ‘stars of the game’, the league applauds him for a strong effort as he continues to learn and grow as a goalie. Ironically, it was his counterpart, John Kushneryk (23/24), who nearly came to regret his recent tutelage of young Gabe, with the padawan nearly outdueling the master (nerd alert) to snatch an all important first win for his side. That ‘boost above the cut line and into the playoff fray’ is now the plan for Abel & Company this Sunday, as another ‘Young Canuck Cup’ installment is issued when White takes on Captain Owen Perks’ Blue.

One needs to slow one’s roll when prattling on to much about a ‘battle of undefeated teams’ this early in the season, but it is always intriguing when two lossless sides match up beyond the first two or three weeks of play. Captain Kalen Hunter’s Black survived a late White charge in Week One to prevail 5-3, then stymied a strong Red side 3-1 in their second go. Captain William Teglia’s Teal outran Green in a 6-4 track meet opener, then sailed past White 5-2. Barring a second Week Three tie, one of these two would make an early season claim to ‘elite’, and the other drop into the ranks of ‘solid contender’. So, not exactly high stakes, but certainly a ‘measuring stick’ game for both sides. John Kushneryk continued his sizzling season (for both Black and Gold), this time breaking the scoring seal at 3:25 in the first (Josh Tran). Neither team mustered much in the way of chances in that first ten minutes, with each side cobbling together just three shots, but Teal would hold an 8-6 shot edge in the second, and a 15-5 chasm in the third. If you’re scoring at home, that’s a 26-14 shot total edge in Teal’s favor for the game, but SUPER sub Nick Meglich (26/26) stopped everything thrown his way. Of course, that means that Kushneryk’s first period goal would stand as the game-winner, but Josh Tran did add an unassisted insurance strike at 9:20 in the second to give Black considerably more grace under Teal’s fire. The 2-0 win for Black is hardly of the ‘statement’ variety, but it’s another notch in the far left column, and further proof that they can hang tough with tough teams. Chuck Bender (12/14) was solid as ever in his own sub stint at the other end, but the result finally puts the ‘L’ in Teal, leaving just two ‘perfect’ teams in the Wing 2026 pool. As fate (and the result of the final Week Three game, for which you are about to read a recap) would have it, Captain Hunter’s 3-0-0 Black enter the arena for a second straight ‘Battle Of Undefeated Teams’ (read with a booming voice, please) when they take on Captain Meglich’s 3-0-0 Sand this Sunday.

If you missed the spoiler above, the box scores, the standings, and all other records of the results from games that took place six days ago, buckle up for a gripping summary of the Week Three nightcap between Captain Josh Wirt’s 0-2-0 Red, and Captain Nick Meglich’s 2-0-0 Sand. SDFHL historians will look back on this season and agree that the scheduling gods were unkind to Captain Wirt’s Crew. Red fell 0-3 to Gold in their opener, with a buzzsaw backstop performance from Kushneryk making their 22-8 shot dominance mean absolutely nothing, then turned to face living league legend, Sean ‘Da Kid’ Kelly, who stopped 17/18, all while Kushneryk AGAIN dashed Red’s hopes with both the game-winning goal, and the game-saving save (yes…as a defender!). Well, thank f*ck Red would get some relief in Week Three with…oh…just Sand, with f*cking Thanos (Alex Giummo) up front, and a combination of all of the Avengers in nets (Captain Meglich)…cool, cool, cool. ‘Thanos’ struck first at 7:20 (Wendy Enright & Jeremy Copp), and second at 6:20 (Parsa Mostafavi), but Eric Caliguiri stopped the bleeding for Red with his first of the season at 5:04 (Captain Wirt). The inspirational music swelled in the second, as our intrepid underdogs knotted the score with a Captain Wirt powerplay conversion at 8:12 (Eli Schonbrun & Bryan Ossa), then seized their first lead of the season (!) with a Schonbrun twine-rippler at 4:49 (Captain Wirt & Joe Malki). Thanos was having none of this rousing comeback nonsense, snatching up his third infinity stone at 2:17 (Andy Strathman) to send both teams into the second break on even (deceptively even) footing. Trevor Vick (yes, he is also up front for Sand…Jebus help us all) put Sand back in front at 8:02 in the third (Giummo & Strathman), then it was infinity stone number four at 7:46 (Trevor Vick & Joel Gattey), and the complete set of five with an empty-netter at 0:59 (Mostafavi). If my prose proved confusing at all, that was Alex Giummo finishing with a ho-hum 5 and 1 to (over)power Sand to a 6-3 win, keeping them perfect at 3-0-0. Captain Meglich followed his perfect 26/26 sub stint with a 26/29 performance, proving he is also tucking a cape beneath that goalie jersey each week. Don Tran (9/14) and Red can only take solace in the fact that the scheduling gods absolutely blew their load (technical term) with this grueling first third gauntlet. A win this Sunday over a 1-2-0 Green would not only right the ship, but could push (what I know in my heart to be) a quality team above the cut line for the first time. As teased in the previous recap, Captain Meglich & Company will test that full collection of stones and other assorted super powers against Captain Kalen’s Black in Week Four in another BATTLE OF UNDEFEATED TEAMS (read with booming echo, please)…