Neither Captain Janet Goins’ Royal Blue, nor Captain Wendy Enright’s Olive had lost a game since February 5th, and with both teams nestled in the cozy upper branches of the standings, this meeting was more about playoff posturing and pride than anything else. Olive was ‘the hottest team in the league’ coming in, having won four straight after a two loss stumble out of the gate, and they would remain hot, and cool down Royal Blue in the process in the Week Eleven opener. Tomáš Jankovic got Olive rolling with his first goal (indeed, first point) of the season at 6:25 in the first, with assists to Josh Wirt and Will Heinl. A scoreless second came courtesy of great efforts in nets from both Olive’s Zach Siemer (20/21), and Royal Blue super sub, Chris Tran (20/22). Wirt put that second blemish on Tran’s sheet early in the second, converting on the power play from Heinl and Sally Jackson to push the margin to 2-0. Erin Plone is really coming into her own, and she notched her third (!) goal of her rookie campaign less than a minute after Wirt’s strike (and ‘paid the price’ in front of the net, as a result), collecting a Carl Vankoughnett pass, and flipping a backhand past Siemer to break his shutout string, and bring Royal Blue within one. Siemer and Olive would hold on to complete the rare feat of keeping Eric Herrmann off the sheet in a ‘statement’ 2-1 win that has them knocking on the door of the standings top floor. With ten points each, both teams have officially clinched a playoff berth, and can now relax, and focus on staying healthy, padding stats, and enjoying their remaining regular season games…
The haves (Silver) faced off against the have-nots (Black) in the second game on the Week Eleven Easter slate, and the result was, well, exactly what you would expect. The heroics of Matt Henderson (23/25) in nets for Black should not be lost in the result, which was closer than a typical battle of top and bottom, thanks largely to him. Sadie Hellstrom put one past Henderson at 9:22 in the first (from Joel Gattey and Matt Gottfried), but the veteran netminder shook it off, and kept his team in it from there. A scoreless second meant that Captain Shelby Shattuck’s squad had a chance at a massive coup going into the third, but…alas…this team just CANNOT SCORE. Alexis DaCosta (from Zach Salt and Gottfried) added an insurance marker at 9:38 in the third, and a two goal lead is a death sentence for any team facing Silas ‘The Silencer’ Perks (22/22), let very much alone a team with one (wobbly) goal to their credit in six games. Make that ‘…in seven games’, as Perks kept the Black attack in the sack with his third shutout of the season in Silver’s 2-0 win. Again, I don’t want to lose site of the valiance of Henderson’s effort in this one, but I also refuse to stop peeing my pants over Perk’s sublime season to this point. He is, without question, the MVP of this team (and the entire league), with an absolutely weapons-grade line of .968/0.71/3 SO. How are you going to beat a team when you can only hope (let alone expect) to score a fraction of a goal against them? Applause to Black for giving it a strong crack, especially without the services of half their team (Alan Razoky, Rich Shane, Harsh Wanigaratne, and Mark Daquipa), but this loss should serve as the final nail in a coffin that Black has been test driving all season long. Meanwhile, there are no signs of slowing down for Captain Audrey Stratton’s team, who enter their final three games at 6-0-1…the only remaining undefeated team, and the only team with a single digit number in the ‘goals allowed’ column (FIVE!)…
Captain Maureen Ruchhoeft’s White came into Week Eleven as the only team other than Silver without a loss…in spite of two close brushes with the dreaded L, and one ULTRA close brush. The ‘press’ (me) was buzzing about how ‘unkillable’ the 3-0-3 team had proven to be week in and week out, but this week proved the undoing of that trend. Captain Kerri Sevenbergen’s Purple came into the match with perhaps the most erratic/inconsistent performance history in the league…the ‘box of chocolates’ of the Winter League 2023 season, for sure. Well, they pulled nothing but sweetness from that box this time out, with much of the sugar (ironically) coming in the form of Salt. Jon Salt, to be clear…the lesser of the Salt Bros™. He opened the scoring for Purple at 6:43 in the first (from Rob LaVigne), then soloed the game-winner at 5:15 in the second. Brandon Olsen plumped the advantage to 3-0 to close out the second…setting the stage for what would typically be an epic White comeback. The comeback started with Brennan Abel at 9:31 in the third (from Jim LaGrossa and Pat Gladstone). Unfortunately for White, that is also where this rally would end. Patrick Theis (21/22) made his HOF papa proud, holding the gates shut the rest of the way, while add-on tallies from Weston Nawrocki (from Lavigne), Olsen again (this time on the power play from Salt and Mark Nagy), and Nagy from LaVigne meant that White’s string of staving off a loss was well at an end…6-1, Purple prevails. Chuck Bender (15/21) swallowed his first loss of the season, which is back pat worthy, given that White is seven games in. They remain in the top half of the standings in spite of the loss at 3-1-3, while the win gives Purple a much needed confidence boost and some breathing room in the standings at 3-3-1. White have all but punched their playoff ticket…it’s possible they already have, if I only had the patience to do the math. Purple remain on the bubble, but a Week Twelve meeting with Black, and a Week Thirteen meeting with Red have to have them feeling pretty good about their second season odds.
Captain Emily Bennington’s Red (which is really ‘maroon’) took their agenda of desperation into Week Eleven to face Captain Leah Gonzales’ Maroon (also ‘maroon’). Coming in at 1-5-0, the ‘must win’ portion of the proceedings was officially underway for the former, while the latter looked to steady the ship, riding in on a four game winless stretch that featured three blowout losses and one gut punch tie. Mostafa Azab got Red off on the right foot late in the first (from Joe Gaudio), and a pair of Gaudio (Joe again…Rob was out) passes found Scott Wieland’s tape, and subsequently the back of the net to put the underdogs on top 3-0. Mark Scelfo found the first response for Maroon late in the second (from Ezra Cohen and Vincent Santora), but Red still carried a 3-1 lead, and the hope of a resurrected season into the final period of play. Joe Malki had ideas of his own about both Red’s 3-1 lead and that whole ‘hope’ bit, and he dashed both with a pair of goals at 7:39 (from Captain Gonzales) and 1:52 (on the power play from Papa Malki and Captain Gonzales) to bring Maroon level, and level Red’s expectations of a big springboard win. Nick Vacchio (24/27) battled hard once again, but was ultimately tagged with another non-win, while Chuck Bender (13/16) reaped the benefit of the comeback surge from Maroon, to improve his record as a sub this season to 2-2-1. The 3-3 tie leaves Red at 1-5-1, needing every point they can scrape and almost certainly a bit of help to survive into May. This Sunday’s showdown with Tropical Blue is as ‘make or break’ as it gets, and they can no longer afford to lose (nor to blow a three goal lead and tie). Maroon’s winless streak has now run to five games, and while a 2-3-3 record still finds them in cut line danger, they may look back at this salvaged point against Red as their season’s salvation. Maroon will likely need at least another point or two to guarantee playoff passage. They can take solace in seeing Black on their schedule after this Sunday’s bye, but the close out the season against and absolutely-on-a-mission Olive side.
It was another clash of close colors, and (eerily enough) two teams with nearly identical trajectories to that of Red and Maroon in the nightcap, as our cover team (led by Captain Kyra Forsyth) took their ‘must win’ mindset into battle against a 2-2-2 ‘Aqua’ side (a side that came in on a three game winless slide). With just two points to their credit coming in, and just three games left in their season, Captain Forsyth’s crew would need a win win win situation to close out the season with any hope of moving on into May. Ian Crooks took the first step toward that first win for Tropical Blue, cashing in a Luke Wolmer assist to put his team up 1-0 through one. Close set penalties early in the second to Sev Brown and Nick Vacchio gave Aqua a 5 on 3 advantage, and David Schlatter took advantage of that advantage to even the score (from Matt Rogers). Schlatter would set up Mark DeGraffenreid’s first goal of the season (CONGRATULATIONS, OLD MAN!), finishing a two on one break that was sprung by Brian Sheptycki. Aqua’s lead held into the second half of the third period, but the penalty ghost game back to haunt Captain Steph Palomo Schmidt’s side, as Chris Fiore fired home a shot from the point (from Forsyth) to knot the score at two apiece. The stage was set for a big moment, and it was POTW honoree, Kaitlyn Brusso, seizing that moment, sliding home her first career goal…a game-winner, and potential season-saver with 2:07 to play. CONGRATULATIONS, KAITLYN! Sean Kelly earned his FIRST win of the season with the 11/13 effort, while Chris Tran (12/15) shouldered another bitter loss for an Aqua team that now sits right on the cut line…just two points ahead of Tropical Blue for the final playoff ticket. Help is on the way for Aqua, as they pick up Tim Hamon to replace John Hwang, who played just one game before suffering an ankle injury, and they need all the help they can get to right their ship and make their way back to safer playoff waters. Tropical Blue has just two games remaining, and this Sunday’s showdown with Red is THE game…the loser is almost assuredly done, while the winner may well find themselves knocking on the back door to May play.