Timing is everything, and White went from having it all to losing everything in no time. Captain Jordan Pynn’s Eight-Ball Bender romped through the regular season without a loss, and looked like a lock to cruise through the brackets to championship glory. A stunning shootout loss to the bottom seed left them wounded and vulnerable, and Black smelled that first blood and attacked with finishing force, knocking off the odds-on Cup favorites, 4-1. Captain Mark Ennsmann collected assists on both of Andrew Jacobsen’s tallies, and both Ennsmann and Jacobsen assisted on Alyce Perry’s game-winner. Michael Froman fluffed the lead to 4-0 through two periods of play, and only a Steve Goncalo power play marker late in the third could spoil Don Tran’s shut out bid (24/25). Namesake netminder, Chuck Bender, stopped 11/15 in just his second loss of the season. Unfortunately for White, it was also his second loss of the post season, and that was one too many for the late number one seed. Black will look to avenge a short-benched 2-1 Week Four loss to Orange after the Labor Day break, while White will enjoy a much longer break in the lead-up to the coming season.
Chris Malki padded his case for playoff MVP, scoring his fourth goal of the postseason, and assisting on Captain Enright’s game-winner to keep Lime, ironically, White hot. Too soon? Malki scored in the first, less than a minute after Rob Sangha gave Orange the lead on the power play. Enright’s game-winner came at 3:05 in the third, and Alex Theis made that slim lead hold true, stopping 18/19 in Lime’s 2-1 win over Orange. Captain Enright’s team has not lost since Week Six. Their torrid and timely 4-0-1 run since has seen them outscore opponents 11-2, with Theis posting three shut outs in the span. Lime has certainly provided a twist to the expected playoff picture, and they will look to echo their Week Nine win over Purple when the playoffs resume on September 8th. Orange will need to regroup and gear up for Black, whom they edged 2-1 back in Week Four of the regular season.
Alan Razoky was not about to let his sister steal the show…pride and playoff peril trump brotherly love. Alaa had the first laugh, converting Brett Cohen’s pass to give Green a 1-0 lead in the first. London Peters evened the score in the second, and Alan recorded the sister-thwarting game-winner in the final minute of that frame. Brian Sheptycki added a last minute insurance policy to go with his helper on Peters’ goal, making Green’s final piece of bad news read ‘3-1 loss to Tie Dye’. Captain Noceti’s team join White in the one-two playoff seed punchout, as Green struggled, then strangled to death without super sniper, Steve Jones. Alan will carry the Razoky name on to Week Three of the playoffs, with Tie Dye taking on Gold in another elimination match. With Mark Boulanger back on the east coast, it will likely be Chris Tran in nets again for Captain Siemer’s side. Tran stopped 8/9, and actually received the scoring support he sorely lacked with Pink in the regular season to earn the win for his surrogate team.
Purple and Gold battled to a 2-2 tie through three periods of regulation play, plus overtime, leaving their fates to the whims of the Shootout Gods. Troy Ohlsson struck first for Purple with just 0:34 remaining in the first period. Connor Miller retaliated for Gold with even less time to play in the second period (0:02), and Nick Adkins and Patrick Fusco exchanged salvos within a minute of each other in the third. Andy Strathman accounted for the only assist on both Purple goals, and he would ultimately serve as the difference maker in this match. Strathman put on his ‘Shootout God’ hat, and converted the only goal in five shootout rounds to spoil Gold’s Cinderella streak, and send them to a 3-2 SO loss. Both goalies were on their game, but Cory Brin (17/19) ultimately outdueled Matt Henderson (18/20) to propel his team to the Winner’s Bracket finals. Purple will look to avenge their regular season loss to Lime, and earn a spot in the finals in the process, while Gold look to stay alive in a do or die Tie Dye tilt.