Captain Shawna Hamon and ‘CoCoal Chanel’ are off to a haute start, spritzing opposing teams with a dozen goals through two games, and making winning look as effortless and elegant as their namesake. If they can bottle this momentum, the runway to the playoffs and beyond is theirs to strut.
It’s been a slow, soggy start to the season thus far, with as many rainouts as weeks played, and perhaps no team has embodied the grey, gloomy spirit of the weather to this point like Captain Shelby Shattuck’s ‘Black Widow’. A 7-0 loss to Royal Blue in their opener had them hoping for better things in an encore against Aqua, and while technically ‘better’, it was still ‘not better enough’. Chuck Bender (12/14) filled in very capably for Matt Henderson in nets for Black, stretching a scoreless duel deep into the second period before Captain Steph Palomo Schmidt finally broke through for her team with 1:25 to play in the middle frame. David Schlatter collected the primary assisted on the skipper’s scoring strike, and he would add insurance icing early in the third (from Tom Darlington) to move Aqua out to a 2-0 lead that would hold through to the final whistle. The second assist on Palomo Schmidt’s game-winner came as a nice dollop of whipped cream on Chris Tran’s 15/15 Sunday sundae, proving the man really can do it all. So, while it’s ‘still early’, an 0-2-0 hole, with 9 GA and 0 GF is certainly not the start that Black would have hoped for. Aqua have steered clear of the loss column thus far, but have not exactly proven to be a powerhouse out of the gate. They will hope to show more punch when pitted against a winless Olive in Week Four, while Black will look to get in the W column (or, at least on the scoring charts) against a tough Maroon side.
Black’s scoreless, winless struggles look particularly bleak against the backdrop of color cousins, Charcoal, and their cruise control crusade. Captain Shawna Hamon’s team smashed Purple 7-1 in their opener, then brute forced past their opponent and dashed to the top of the scoring charts in a pre-Super Bowl Sunday showdown. Captain Wendy Enright & Company actually looked to have the winning way primed and paved, building a 3-1 lead through two periods of play. Will Heinl got Olive going early in the first, and Josh Tran’s powerplay pay dirt eclipsed Kalen Hunter’s early power play tally to give his team back the lead, 2-1 through one. Gary Peters owned the only goal in the second period, with the first assist going to his long lost son, London, and the second to Josh Wirt, who had assisted on each of the first two Olive goals, as well. The third period was the whip crack for Charcoal, though, as Captain Hamon cut the lead to one early on, and a late trio of goals (Hunter, Owen Perks, Hunter) saw a 3-1 Olive lead become a 5-3 Charcoal comeback coup. Needless to say, averaging six goals every Sunday is a good way to win most, if not all of your games. This scoring punch would carry even the weakest of goalies to the promised land, and Don Tran (20/23) is certainly not one of ‘the weakest goalies’. Olive are winless in two tries, but have hung tough with two tough teams (the only two teams with two wins, thus far). Their starting block slowness is less like Black’s scoreless stumble, and more like getting tackled by runners in adjacent lanes. Captain Enright’s crew will look to right the ship this Sunday against Aqua, while the two aforementioned 2-0-0 teams go toe-to-toe with Charcoal taking on White in a battle of early season bigs.
The middle game was a medley of retribution and recession, as Purple and Royal Blue swapped Week One fates and evened their respective records at 1-1-0. As noted earlier, Purple was punched in the proverbial face in their opener against Charcoal, losing 7-1, while Royal Blue blanked Black 7-0 in their first go. The (micro sample size) math dictated that this one shouldn’t even be close. It wasn’t…but it also wasn’t a 14-1 Royal Blue romp. Jon Salt had one lonely assist in that lopsided leadoff loss, and losses make Jonny…something something. Go crazy he did, ripping four fists of fury past Nick Meglich (19/23) over three periods of intense…exorcise. Brandon Olsen assisted on the game-winner in the first, and Weston Nawrocki helped on the third period punctuation mark, but Salt went solo for a pair in the second, accounting for all of the scoring in a 4-0 Purple parade past Royal Blue. Rookie netminder, Patrick Theis (14/14), made his HOF papa proud with his first win, and first shutout in his two game-old career, leveling his (and Purple’s) record at 1-1-0. Captain Janet Goins and ‘Maya AngeBLUE’ will look to get back on track against a 1-0-0 Silver side this Sunday, while Jon ‘Hulk Smash’ Salt and Purple will look to make it two in a row against an 0-1-0 Red.
The season was originally set to open on January 15th. Rains pushed that plan back a week, with Red sitting out on their bye when the court was dry. Another week of rains meant that Red would not FINALLY get to play until February 5th, when Captain Emily Bennington’s eager bunch hit the court (albeit, without Captain Emily in the lineup) to face Captain Maureen Ruchhoeft and her ‘White Hot Flashes’. Vance Morra put White on the board first late in the first, with the primary assist going to Week One hero, Phil Nguyen, and the second apple to some old dude. Morra then assisted on what would ultimately stand as the game winner, as Brennan Abel put one past Nick Vacchio (15/17) late in the second to give White a 2-0 edge. Mostafa Azab struck back for Red midway through the third (from Gaudio Bros™, Rob and Joe), but Chuck Bender (15/16) would hold on to earn his second victory in as many tries (!), capturing third star of the game in the 2-1 White win. Bender has been a revelation so far this season for White, already topping his win total from the prior two seasons, combined. His team remains one of only two teams with a perfect 2-0-0 record…the other being their Week Four opponent, Charcoal. Red can shake off the rust and an opening loss with a better showing this Sunday against Purple.
The nightcap featured an 0-0-1 Maroon taking on an 0-1-0 Tropical Blue, with both teams hoping to wrest a win in their second whirl. Ryan Karns channeled his inner Phil Nguyen, donning the ‘hidden hero’ cape to lead the charge for the winning side. He opened the scoring for Maroon midway through the first (from John Boddy and Chris Malki), and closed the scoring with his second of the night in the final minute of play to cap a two goal effort for the beloved bearded blueliner. Joe Malki had built the lead to two in the first (from Boddy and Captain Leah Gonzales), before Dan Jurgens struck back for Tropical Blue in the second (from Andy Strathman), then assisted on Nick Vacchio’s tying goal at 3:04 in the third. Boddy brandished the game winner just over a minute later, on Captain Leah’s second assist of the night, and Karns’ capper brought the final figures to rest at 4-2, Maroon over Tropical Blue. Steve Deppensmith (9/11) outdueled Sean Kelly (9/13) to net his first win of the season, and keep Maroon undefeated through two weeks of play. It’s not quite time to hit the panic button just yet for Captain Kyra Forsyth, but she and her mates were no doubt counting on the otherworldly awesomeness of ‘Da Kid’ in nets this season. I don’t have the record books in front of me as I type, but his 0-2-0/.769/3.00 line is almost certainly his worst season start, if not the worst two game showing in his long, storied career. Captain Kyra and her Tropical Blue crew will regroup on a bye this Sunday, and hope to come back with a renewed sense of purpose (and, hopefully, a keyed up Kid) in Week Five. Maroon will look to build on their mojo this weekend against a beleaguered, bereft Black.