One team’s bad beat is another team’s good beat. Week Eight saw a winless Pink rise to victory in stunning fashion, keeping their ticket to the big dance in hand for at least one more week. The final week of the regular season is upon us, and no one is crying outside by the dumpsters…yet.
MUSIC TRIVIA: Who originally sang ‘Turn The Beat Around’?
JoeHemian Rhapsody’s path to playoff redemption coming into the final two weeks of the regular season looked very, very frightening, to say the least. The one-two death punch of Black and White would surely keep them below the cut line for good, winless and washed out by mid-August. Still, in spite of their struggles, Pink had proven plucky and proud through seven weeks of play, Chris Tran had proven himself the equalizer, and, well, Captain Joshi’s side had nothing left to lose. It certainly looked as though they had at least the game at hand to lose, after Black struck for two strange goals in close in the second period (Andrew Jacobsen & Jason Northrup). Eric Willard finally broke away and broke through for Pink, skirting past his defender, then moving around Don ‘The Other’ Tran to make his team’s first deposit. It was Willard again off a rebound four minutes later to make it 2-2. Another tie, and another point would give hope to the hopeless, but fate had other plans. Those plans came in the form of a breakaway chance in the waning seconds, which Mark DeGraffenreid converted to give Pink their first win of the season–a 3-2 stunner over Black. Chris out-dueled Don in the Tran Bowl, stopping 20/22 to further improve his MVP case. The miracle finish pushes Pink above the cut line, and actually has them perched in seventh place going into the final week of play. While they face the toughest of all challenges in White, they at least hold their own destiny in hand, knowing full well from Week Eight that anything is possible.
Brian Sheptycki is already a household name in the SDFHL, and a house of horrors name for opponents. The uber-skilled forward racked up another hat trick for Tie Dye, who continue to bolster their playoff position with each game he plays. London Peters put the tie in Tie Dye, saving a point for his team with a goal at 0:14 to force a 4-4 tie with White. White had built a 4-2 lead as the game moved into the final minutes of play, with Carl Vankoughnett’s back-to-back third period tallies leading the way. Jordan Pynn and Jon Zygelman provide the balance of the scoring for White, who are finally showing a few cracks in the late going, having allowed eight goals in two ties over the past two weeks of play.
Pink’s early game heroics added extra heat to the afternoon for fellow bubble teams, Lime, Red, and Gold. Gold’s turn on the hot seat came first, and a surprise appearance from Kamal Gill yielded early dividends in the form of an assist on the first of Nick Adkins’ two goals. Danny Wissing and Stephanie Chen responded to those goals in turn, leaving the score at 2-2 through the first. Unfortunately for Captain Janet Goins’ crew, they did not grab the magic baton from Pink. Troy Ohlsson gave Purple their first lead of the game, and Captain Jon Salt sealed the deal…4-2, Purple over Gold. Cory Brin was big for Purple, stopping 19/21, while Mark Boulanger absorbed the L in a fill-in roll for Matt Henderson with a 17/21 effort. The loss tarnishes Gold’s playoff hopes all the more, but if they can manage a good result against Orange in the late game this Sunday, and if they get the right help from other teams earlier in the slate, they may find their way to the end of the rainbow after all.
The Nestle Crunch Crucial Match-Up of the week came with 1-5-1 Lime facing 2-4-1 Red. As loss for Lime would mean elimination. A win…a chance at late season redemption. The teams battled through a scoreless first, and finished with a scoreless third. It was Chris Malki coming through with the GWG in the second, converting an Emily Lincoln assist into the most important goal of Lime’s season. Don Tran did his best Alex Theis impersonation, stopping 21/21 to preserve the win, while Christian LeClair (18/19) was tagged with yet another loss in a difficult debut season. The 1-0 win for Lime over rival Red inches them above the cut line for now. They will have a tough challenge in Purple this week, but Gold and Red will need to earn a point or more against Orange and Green, respectively, if they hope to twist Lime back out of the playoff picture.
Green is having trouble keeping up without the Jones. The super star forward was shelved for the remainder of the season after an ugly incident in a Week Six match-up with Gold. Things have been uglier since, with Captain Noceti’s team suffering two straight shutout losses. The second of those losses came courtesy of Orange, who snapped a cold streak of their own (0-3-0) in the process. Goals from Jerry Gonzales, Kevin Dinino, and Raj Patel provided more than enough for Marc Devoe (11/11) to record his second shutout of the season–3-0 Orange over Green. Green has been granted a replacement for Jones in the person of Dale Stuzka. They will look to get back on track in their final regular season tilt with a desperate Red. Both teams are already securely in the playoffs, so the real playoff implications for Orange’s final game are all on the other side of the ball (Gold).