Six Pack

A short bench, tournament-tired legs for those suited up, and Sean Kelly patrolling the pipes at the other end…not exactly a winning recipe for Captain Ryan Karns’ Brown as they warmed up for their first ‘do or die’ playoff match. Captain Geoff Downes’ White, by contrast…a full compliment of players, Da aforementioned Kid in nets, and a prime opportunity to avenge a 3-1 Week Four loss, eliminate Karns & Company, and generate some positive momentum going into the heart of the playoff push. Brown embraced the ‘nothing to lose’/’backs against the wall’ energy, outshooting White 7-3 in a scoreless first frame, and Karns’ crew maintained that pressure in the second, with shots still counting in their favor over the middle period, 8-5. One of those second period shots found a home behind Kelly…a screened snipe off the stick of Kalen Hunter giving Brown the first lead of the game at 3:29. That lead would hold, with Mason Holcomb reportedly ‘standing on his head’ to preserve Brown’s narrow edge deep into the third. Hunter’s empty-netter at 0:42 (Andy Strathman & Mario Peia) would allow Brown teeth to unclench and lungs to exhale, with the heroics of Hunter and Holcomb (12/12) proving just enough to push Brown past White in a stunning 2-0 coup. Kelly (18/19) absorbed the hard luck L, and White whimpered out of the playoff picture after a second straight shutout shortfall. Brown will look to continue their plucky playoff push in a Week Three rematch with Captain Nick Meglich’s Green, to whom they fell 4-1 back in Week Five.

Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue reaffirmed their ownership of Grey in their playoff opener, dispatching the bottom seed 5-2 as an echo of their 6-1 regular season ransacking. Outside of those two very convincing wins, Heather Blue’s campaign credo has been ‘Just Enough’. The proverbial ‘other shoe’ for Salt’s crew is that there are no ties in playoff hockey, and while their regular season loss column was spotless, the tie column was packed tighter than a Tokyo subway. Captain Nick Meglich’s Green accounted for one of the FIVE Heather Blue regular season ties, with the teams each taking a point away from a 3-3 Week Nine affair. The second season rematch would unknot things and (finally) produce a winner…and (of course) a loser. Captain Salt put his team on the board first late in the first, converting a helper from Alexis DaCosta at 0:46 to cap a period that saw Heather Blue outshoot Green 6-1. The shot totals balanced a bit in a scoreless second, and Josh Wirt finally put a shot past super sub, Mason Holcomb, to even the score at ones with 7:36 to play (Erin Plone & Trice Harvey). Ty Pereira wrested the lead back for Heather Blue at 3:17 (Bryan Ossa & Captain Salt), and Salt would seal Green’s fate with his second of the game just thirty seconds later. Holcomb (9/10) was solid in Eric Kroeker’s stead, locking down the 3-1 win to move Heather Blue on to the Winners’ Bracket Final, while Captain Meglich (12/15) shouldered the loss for Green, who now must navigate the Losers’ Bracket should they have any hope for redemption. A heavyweight bout is up next for Heather Blue, as the the top seed takes on second-seeded Orange with a ticket to the Final on the line. Shockingly, the regular season match between these two did not end in a draw…Heather Blue bested Orange 3-1 back in Week Five. Green’s first lower bracket opponent is the sixth seed, Captain Ryan Karns’ Brown…a team they handled with relative ease in a 4-1 Week Five win.

The regular season installment of ‘The Citrus Bowl’™ was a 6-4 run and gun win for Orange, but an attendance asterisk (Lime was without Dan Jurgens, Brian Baker, Shelby Shattuck, and Troy Ohlsson) could be appended to that result. To be fair, Orange were missing Jackson Tomaszewski in that first meeting, and JT would definitely be a factor in the Week Two playoff rematch which (spoiler alert) ran a nearly identical course to the first. Eric Enciso kicked off the scoring for Orange with an unassisted effort at 3:30 in the first, and Tomaszewski followed with his first of the game just ten ticks later (William Teglia). Maureen Ruchhoeft cut the lead in half exactly a minute later (Eric Willard), and the teams moved into the second period with the scoring seal broken. It was all Orange in the second, as Teglia made it 3-1 at 7:12 (Brennen Abel & Steve Linke), Tomaszewski’s second at 4:38 made it 4-1 (Abel & Linke), and Abel made it 5-1 at 2:54 (Steph Palomo Schmidt & Enciso). Chuck Bender (17/20) remained steady through the final period of play, but did allow two late Lime strikes…a Glenn Pinto solo effort at 1:11, and a Justin Ker tally at 0:20 (Captain Zach Salt) to make the final appear a bit less lopsided…5-3 Orange over Lime. Jon Cima (15/21) suffered the loss without the benefit of his customary safety net, Lime’s league leading offense, as the ‘too little, too late’ charge was…well…too little, and too late. Orange move on to face their standing attic mates and natural rivals, Heather Blue, while Lime will look to recover their swagger in a Losers’ Bracket liaison with Grey.

The Week Two nightcap was an elimination bout that had all of the makings of a big screen ‘feel good’ sports flick. Well, it was ‘feel good’ (or, rather, ‘feel great’) for one team, and ‘feel shellshocked’ for another, but…potato/tomato. Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey came in still licking their wounds from another wound-ful defeat at the hands of Heather Blue in Week One, while Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue was ready to reverse the ‘close, but no cigar’ trend after back-to-back low-scoring non-wins to Green. The Week Two meeting between these two was very much a non-win for Atomic Blue, with Grey breaking their meager offensive mold (six games with just one goal, and two with just two) to drop a half dozen on Gaudio’s Gang in a 6-1 romp. A scoreless first set the tone for a much closer match than last time, and Captain Gaudio’s first of the playoffs (his team’s first, from Vance Morra and Mostafa Azab) had Atomic Blue in control at 4:29 in the second. Silas ‘The Silencer’™ Perks continued to flex his rediscovered fine form, deflecting all twenty-two Grey shots through the first twenty minutes of play, including a fifteen spot in the second alone. Grey kept the shots cranking in the third, and FINALLY found a crack in Perks at 1:20, with Jon Zygelman converting a feed from (et tu) Owen Perks to save Grey’s season, and flip the final minute of this game into a frenzied fight for life. The stage was set for the aforementioned ‘feel good’/’feel shellshocked’ moment, and Dan Soar seized that moment, snapping home the game-winner for Grey with just 0:20 to play! The 2-1 Grey over Atomic Blue stunner was all of the thrill and all of the agony of playoff hockey on display, with Matt Henderson (15/16) continuing his spectacular play to keep his team in it to the bitter sweet end. The Silencer™ was otherworldly (33/35), but no manner of miracle could save a suddenly-unable-to-score Atomic Blue, as they became the fourth team cast to the curb at the CrossBar™. Grey have a tall task ahead in three-seeded Lime this Sunday. The two did battle to a 1-1 draw back in Week One, but personnel and playoff passion are considerations that must be, well, considered in this rematch (to the death).