Captain Ennsmann and his EnnsMen Without Hats came off their bye week with a strong rebound from their 6-0 Week Seven loss to Orange. The 4-0 shocking of Pink was also a playoff ticket-puncher for the hot and cold crew, as four different goal-scorers scored goals in a dominant first period. Eric Caligiuri kept rolling in what may be the best season of his career, scoring first for the winning side. Captain Ennsmann added insurance, and added an assist on Brian Sheptycki’s goal to make it 3-0. Sheptycki, in turn, had the primary helper on Tom Darlington’s goal, with the Kim Hernandez’ contributing the second assist…her second assist on the night. Bringing everything back full circle, Hernandez and Darlington were primary and secondary table-setters on Caligiuri’s game-winner to start all of this. Christian LeClair picked the right night to have the best game of his career, stopping 27/27 to earn his first career shutout, and help propel his team to playoff safety. Pink’s season is a wrap at 5-3-1, and their playoff positioning is set in stone in the three spot. The results of this Sunday’s games could result in an immediate Pink v White rematch, and you can bet that Captain Chad Goins will have his troops (including super sniper, Kris Tosczak, who missed round one) ready for revenge, if that is the case.
I should probably just whip up a recap template for cases like the Purple v Blue Week Nine showdown. It seems to happen every season…two teams, both desperate for two points…both walk away with one…thereby assuring mutual destruction. Captain Chris Tran (13/14), who (ironically) was a major reason that Royal Blue wasn’t already eliminated (see his 32/32 Week Eight heroics versus Green), was solved my Min-Soo Smith late in the second. Carl Vankoughnett evened the score early in the third to account for Nick Adkins’ only blemish in a fill-in role for Blue (15/16). This season’s installment of ‘Tragic Tie Theater’ does leave a shred of hope for Purple, who have one game remaining to save their season. They’ll need some help, but their destruction is not yet assured (lest you took my earlier words literally). All is lost, however, with the 1-1 woe-is-me tie for Captain Jon Salt and Blue. The aforementioned Week Eight win over Green looked to be a season-saving turning point, but the Week Nine tie means ‘Ferris Blue-er’ and his pals will have quite a few days off between now and mid-February. The playoff possibilities tend to hurt my tender little brain, but suffice it to say that Purple will need a win, and some help if there is to be any hope of an eleventh hour redemption.
Captain Brett Cohen and ‘The BrettFast Club’ will graduate with playoff honors after all, securing the second seed with a 3-0 win over Tie Dye. Stephanie Chen recorded the game-winner in the early going, with help from Sailboat Lewis and Jon Zygelman. Zygelman doubled the lead minutes later with the assists from Justin Stege and Dorothy Kline, and Eric Willard’s empty-netter removed any aspirations of a Tie Dye rally. Chuck Bender chalked up his first shutout on the season, stopping 17/17, while Sean Kelly continued to be that ace pitcher with no run support, stopping 10/12 to dip to 2-3-1 on the campaign. Tie Dye are the ones who find themselves in detention at this point. The loss leaves them in the trailing pack going into their final game. Still, the Linke-O-Matic 5000 has indicated that they are ‘likely to make the playoffs’, with a win or a tie locking up a spot in the second season. They can still get in with a loss, but their destiny will be out of their hands, and in the hands of Green and Red, at that point. First thing’s first…they need a strong result against White. We all know Sean Kelly will do his job, but can the lowest scoring team in the league (tied with 10 goals-for with Purple) find a way to put some orange behind the opposing goalie?
Karma is a bitch, and that bitch was in nets for Green in Week Nine, serving up a steaming pot of karma stew for your humble narrator and his (innocent) teammates. Yes, Melissa Busby, the much, much, much maligned punchline punching bag punched back, shutting up her number one ‘critic’, and shutting out Orange with a 15/15 dazzler. The perfect, and poetic performance featured (of course) several incredible, point blank stops on golden chances for…you guessed it….yours truly. As you all (should) know, I tease because I love (and because I find it fun). Melissa and I go WAY back, and I was really proud of her for this one…it was awesome! Love you, Simma! Meanwhile, Zach Siemer was no slouch at the other end, stopping 21/22 in a hard-luck 1-0 loss for Orange, who back into the playoffs with a 1-2-1 stretch leaving them the (current) four seed. Matt Hanley’s second career SDFHL goal was not only pretty (nifty backdoor tuck), but pretty crucial for Green, who punched their playoff ticket with the two points. They can move as high as the five seed with a win over Purple in their regular season finale, or slide as low as seven with a loss. As noted, Orange are locked into the four spot, and will wait until Sunday’s results to determine their January 5th opponent.