Sublime

Week Seven was definitely set up as a ‘crossroads’ slate, with three of the five games offering a struggling team a chance to leapfrog a team ahead of them in the standings…or fail to do so, and get set to fight it out in the trenches in the coming three weeks. Captain Rob Gaudio’s Atomic Blue came in at 2-2-1, having been bounced around a bit over a very rare rough patch for ‘The Silencer’™, while Captain Geoff Downes’ White hoped to preserve the existing pattern of their season (L-W-L-W-L) and slip past their standing neighbors and into the relative safety of the mid pack. With both the aforementioned ‘Silencer’™ (Silas Perks) and ‘Da Kid’ (Sean Kelly) out of action, it would be up to Don Tran and Will Heinl (respectively) to keep the back of the nets ball free. Chris Tran broke the scoring seal at 8:07 in the first (Captain Gaudio), and a still-white-hot Vance Morra doubled the lead for Atomic Blue at 0:27 (Mostafa Azab & Captain Gaudio). It was the same pattern in the second (I mean…almost EXACTLY the same), with Tran’s second of the game coming at 6:02, then Morra’s second at 5:45 (again, from Azab and Gaudio) to build the lead to 4-0. Tony Thinh finally answered for White at 2:51 in the second (Jeannine Stuzka & Zach Siemer), but Tran would complete his hat trick at 1:39 to restore the four goal edge moving into the third. Zach Siemer chipped away at that edge with his first of the season at 8:03 (Tyler Winstead), and Carl Vankoughnett thickened the plot at 6:42 (Mark Scelfo), but that would be as close as White would come to a come back, as Don Tran (27/30) and Atomic Blue would hold on for the 5-3 win. So, in the first of three ‘crossroad’ matches, the team in a better position coming in bettered their position, while the would-be-leap frog will continue to croak along the cut line for at least another week.

While not quite a ‘crossroads’ clash, Captain Mark Nagy’s Red really needed to start making a move in the standings to shore up any measure of safety going into the final weeks of play. Standing in their way was Captain Jeremy Copp’s Grey, a team with as many losses (one) as Red had wins coming in. With a sizzling Matt Henderson in nets for Grey, and the ever-steady Don Tran at the ready for Red, this was destined to be a tight, low-scoring affair. This was not a ‘must win’ for either side, but it was ‘must win adjacent’ for Red, and one or two more points would likely be good enough to (officially) punch a playoff ticket for Grey. A scoreless first seemed to confirm the ‘goalie duel’ billing, and the second period yielded just one conversion, Eli Schonbrun’s second of the season at 8:17 (Kevin Dinino) to give Red the first lead of the game. Will Heinl made good on a Red powerplay at 9:33 in the third (Jordan Kitterman & Captain Nagy) to put Red up by two, but Hima Joshi cut the lead back to one with 5:58 to play (Jon Zygelman & Justin Stege). It was the same trio in a different configuration on the next Red strike, with Kitterman restoring the two goal edge at 4:27…assists to Heinl and Nagy. Dan Soar closed the gap back to one with 2:01 remaining (Zygelman), but Tran (14/16) kept the goal gate closed the rest of the way to preserve a massive 3-2 win for Red. Henderson (14/17) was saddled with his first loss of the season, and now finds himself in a statistical dogfight with ‘Da Kid’ for the Fall League goalie throne. It’s safe to say that Grey is playoff safe in spite of the loss, and Red can now breathe easier going into a crucial matchup with Gold in Week Seven. A win in that game should push Red to playoff safety, while a loss will keep them in limbo with ‘The Blues’ (Atomic & Heather) lurking in their final two games.

If we’re going to keep with the ‘crossroads’ theme, the Week Seven middle game was a ‘street’ fight between one team on an eight lane super highway (Captain Jon Salt’s Heather Blue), and one on a dusty, rut-filled dirt road (Captain Joel Gattey’s Gold). Salt’s squad came in doing a cruise-controlled 80, with every other car in the league somewhere in the rearview mirror, and not a single ding or dent on their washed and waxed fenders. Gattey’s gang, while still on the road and driving to catch up, were bumping along on bald tires and a damn-near-shot transmission. With less shiny and speedy vehicles on their regular season road ahead (Red, Orange, and White), Gold knew that a loss to lossless Heather Blue would not break them down for good, but every mile counts, especially as we enter the home stretch. Alexis DaCosta took the air out of Gold’s tires right off the line, putting Heather Blue up 1-0 just 0:39 in (Captain Salt & Luke Wolmer), but Kyle Snyder quickly shifted Gold back to level at 6:00. The old Gold jalopy lurched into a lead at 2:36 in the second (Tim Vick from Janice Darlington), and as the clock dwindled in the third, it looked like Gattey’s clattery coupe might just pull off the coup of the season. Alas, Luke Wolmer rev’ed Blue back to even with 2:02 to play (Ty Pereira), and the teams would cross the finish line in a dead heat, 2-2. Patrick Theis (16/18) stunt drove for proud papa, Alex, in this one, while Eric Kroeker (17/19) remained unbeaten…but just barely, racking up his third tie in four games in his SDFHL career so far. The result keeps Gold gassed up for their final laps, but they will likely need wins in two of the remaining three games if they hope to drive on into November. Captain Salt’s squad are almost assuredly already a playoff lock (math is hard), but the lead pack remains very tight as we round into the final laps of regular season play.

If you make a habit of reading the headline, or even just the POTW blurb, you already know how ‘The Battle Of The Greens’™ turned out. Still, the people want their prose, and certainly want their props, so I will delve into the details for your reading enjoyment (I’m sticking with my understanding that any of you reading this actually enjoy it). This was the second ‘crossroads’ game of the evening, with Captain Zach Salt’s Lime sitting two points back of Captain Nick Meglich’s Green coming in. A win for Lime would draw them level in the standings with their darker-shaded rivals, but would (of course) also grant them the benefit of ye olde head-to-head tiebreaker…you never know when you’re going to need to break a tie in your favor. Speaking (well, typing) of such things, this one was an absolute thriller, and VERY nearly ended in a tie…until (fittingly) that tie was broken in the final minute of play. Josh Wirt put Green on the board late in the first period (Vinny Santora), despite Lime outshooting his team 11-3 in the frame. The lopsided shot totals continued in Lime’s favor in the second (13-6), but they finally started to see a return on that investment when Eric Willard popped his first of the game at 6:45 (Brian Baker & Captain Salt), then his second at 2:23 (Captain Salt & Pat Gladstone). Lime’s shiny new 2-1 lead lasted nearly a full ten minutes of game time until Rob LaVigne cashed in with 2:28 to play, surely saving the day and a point in the standings for Green…or not. It was Willard again with just 0:58 on the clock, snapping home his third of the game (Christopher Fiore & Dan Jurgens), his league-leading ELEVENTH of the season, and…oh, yeah…completing a HAT TRICK OF HAT TRICKS, PEOPLE! Yes, Willard has now posted a hat trick in three straight games! Note to remaining opponents…you should definitely cover this dude 🙂 So, yes, when you are outshot 32-14, you can rightly expect to lose, but coming within 58 ticks of a tie, only to get ‘Willarded’™…painful. Captain Meglich (29/32) was about as heroic as humanly possible (in the SDFHL sense, I mean…perspective) in the loss, while Jon Cima (12/14) had a much easier time, but held the line in the 3-2 win for Lime. As noted, the result draws these two teams level in the standings at 3-2-1, but as noted in the headline blurb, also sets up the potential for Captain Zach to slip past big bro, Captain Jon, in a ‘get your popcorn’ Week Eight showdown with first place (at least, in part) on the line…

Unless you are a window washer (which, if you are, I may need a quote from you), streaks aren’t always a bad thing. The late game turned our attention from the hottest team in the league (Lime…now riding a three game winning streak), to the coldest (Brown…sitting on a two game losing streak, coming into their Week Seven match with Orange). Keeping a winning streak going is probably at least as challenging as ending a losing streak, but the former is so much more fun and rewarding than latter. Captain Karns’ & Company set to their not-so-fun task with all of the focus and fervor required, but an early strike from Eric Enciso (9:16 in the first from Jackson Tomaszewski) quickly sucked much of the spunk out of the Brown bench (note to self…work on phrasing). Brown continued to press, and objectively had the better of the play and more quality chances through a scoreless second, but another early Enciso goal in the third (9:18 from Alan Razoky and Brennen Abel) brought Brown’s bubbling frustrations to full fruition. At this point in the game, Brown knew they would need at least two goals to wrest a point from Orange, in spite of having just ONE goal to show for their last eight periods of play. On cue, Kalen Hunter came through at 8:56 (Sadie Hellstrom & Captain Karns) to cut the lead in half, and give Brown some semblance of reward for their all-out effort. When Hunter struck again (unassisted) at 4:33, the light at the end of Brown’s losing tunnel shown blindingly bright…it really felt like this would not only be the turning point in this game, but the end of the losing streak, and possibly a turning point in the season. Nope…no, it would not. Enciso capped his hat trick with a wide open look at 1:27 (Tomaszewski & Steph Palomo Schmidt), snuffing that bright light, sealing up that tunnel, and leaving Brown entombed within to contemplate their three game losing streak in the cold, cramped dark space of a brutal 3-2 loss. Orange’s ‘crossroads’ win has them back at .500, sitting just a tack back of the lead pack going into the final three games. Amazingly enough, the three game slide has not pushed Brown below the cut line just yet, but with a tough slate ahead (Atomic Blue, Grey, and Lime), they will need everything they have (and maybe more) to fight their way out of October alive.