Up Beet

Our cover team drew the early game once again in Week Seven, and the desperation that comes with a 0-3-2 record (the only record with a leading goose egg) drew a fiery speech from Captain Mark Nagy just before the opening draw. A scoreless first kept the flames of frustration and desperation fanned in the first intermission huddle for Purple, with yet another tie, and certainly yet another loss not really an option at this point in the season. It was the captain himself leading the charge in the second, breaking the scoreless knot at 6:04 from Josh Wirt and Ian Crooks. Any calm and confidence derived from a one goal edge was quickly eroded in the third, as Andy Strathman showed no ill effects from a nasty first period tumble into the boards, drawing Grey level at 9:43 from Alexis DaCosta and Jordan Pynn. Both Cory Brin (8/10) and super sub, Sean Kelly (16/17), kept the keel even into the late going, but Purple’s purpose would not be denied, with Josh Wirt snapping home his team’s first game-winner of the season with 1:37 remaining (from Captain Nagy)…2-1 Purple over Grey. The win, while absolutely crucial and certainly cherished by Purple, still finds them in a hole below the cut line floor boards. They will need to repeat the feat this Sunday against a resurgent Black band to cultivate any real playoff hope going into the holiday break. The loss keeps Grey in that same dank basement at 2-4-0, and their clash with 2-3-1 Green this week is now as big as it gets for Captain Kyle Prior’s crew, too.

Scoring was obviously at a premium in the first game of the night, but goals were cheaper by the (literal) dozen in the second square-off. Yes…TWELVE total goals, but…how would this Costco quantity of conquest be divvied between Captain Sean Bathgate’s Neon, and Captain Luke Wolmer’s Green? Chris Malki was first to enter a claim, finding twine less than two minutes in (from Matt Rogers) to push Green in front 1-0, but Carl Vankoughnett answered once (from David Schlatter), then twice (from Shawna Hamon) to flip the lead in Neon’s favor, 2-1. Captain Wolmer found time on the first period clock to pull the teams even at 2-2, and the first intermission found both sides feeling pretty good about their equal share of what looked to be a big goal scoring pie. All of the pie slices went to Neon in the middle third, as Schlatter tallied his first of the night (solo), Vankoughnett completed his hat trick (from Hamon) and Hamon pumped the lead to 5-2 (from Vankoughnett and Vinny Santora). I should pause at this point to remind you that this five goal spate was not coming against a broken broom braced against the cross bar…this was all coming against living league legend, Sean Kelly! So, the swagger was certainly on for Captain Bathgate’s crew, and that swagger translated into two more slices of pie to open the third…Schlatter’s second (from Vankoughnett and Chris Fiore), and Vankoughnett’s FOURTH (from Schlatter) to put this one in boat race territory, 7-2. Captain Wolmer finally found a response for his team (from Chris Malki), but Neon quickly restored their five goal edge on one of the prettiest goals of the season…an absolute dime from Schlatter to Kerri Sevenbergen, who promptly roofed it…sick! It was Captain Wolmer again, who capped the scoring (mercifully, for the poor scorer), capped his hat trick, then turned, saluted, and went down with the Green ship, 8-4. When the flood of score sheet ink finally ebbed, Vankoughnett had racked up a career high six points (4 and 2), while Sean Kelly had perhaps a career worst 24/32 in nets at the other end. Chuck Bender (10/14) was steady enough to get the win for Neon, who now find themselves in the middle-of-the-pack pack at 2-2-2. Captain Wolmer’s Green will need to do some wound licking and soul searching after this one. At 2-3-1, they are only BARELY balancing above the cut line. A Week Eight showdown with Grey is as big as a game gets at this point in the season for Green, and they will need ‘Da Kid’ back on form to firm up their footing in the standings.

The middle game saw half the offense as the 5:00 flamethrower, as both Captain Kaitlyn Brusso’s Gold and Captain Rob Gaudio’s Black looked to build on important Week Six wins. Black was the needier of the two, coming in at 2-4-0, while Gold rolled in at 3-2-0 with their bye week behind them, and their eyes on the upper reaches of the standings. Kyle Snyder struck first in the first, cashing in on a power play (from Mason LaGrossa and Andrew Wong) to put Black on top, and Snyder would double the damage (from Captain Gaudio) in the second to build the lead to 2-0. Gaudio kept the ball rolling (into the net) for Black early in the third (from Will Heinl), before Gold finally fought back with one of their own…Alan Razoky from Ty Pereira and Andrew Jacobsen. The clock became a factor for Brusso’s bunch, and late power play provided the opportunity to make a late push. With that push came a pull (of goalie, Don Tran), which allowed Wendy Enright to push home a rare SHG/ENG to put this one out of reach, 4-1. Jacobsen would make good on the power play with eight seconds to play, but it was too little, too late to avoid a losing fate, 4-2 Black over Gold. Chuck Bender (15/17) enjoyed his second win of the evening, this time in a fill in role for Jimm Reifsnyder, who has yet to suit up this season for Black. The loss drops Don Tran (21/24) and Gold to 3-3-0, but the silver lining is that .500 is good enough for fourth place at this stage, and ‘The Golden Dundies’ hold a game in hand on all three teams above them in the standings.

The evening’s proceedings took the next exit off Highscore Highway back on to the quiet, gently curving streets of Parity City, where local goal ordinances prohibit teams from more than a pair apiece. Captain Steven P Linke’s Red looked to continue their steady push to the top. coming in as winners of two straight, both of the big number/blowout variety (7-5 over Black, and 7-2 over Neon). Captain Joel Gattey’s White, on the other hand, were just looking to stay alive in the playoff picture, with their 1-3-1 record coming in only JUST enough to keep them from settling to rock bottom in the standings. Compounding matters, their five goals in those five games coming in made them officially the most anemic offense in the league (obviously either of Red’s previous two games alone would eclipse their season total). So…power and poise versus desperation and determination…a struggle that found no hint toward resolution in a scoreless first. It was Captain Gattey breaking the seal at 9:18 in the second (from Ryan Loughran), then assisting on Jon Zygelman’s second of the season to give White a 2-0 lead. Josh Tran put the first blemish of the night on Silas Perks’ sterling sheet, cutting the lead in half late in the second, with assists to John Boddy and Mark Scelfo. Phil Nguyen took the scoring torch, and brought Red level at 9:14 in the third (from Sadie Hellstrom and Boddy), and neither Jon Cima (6/8), nor Perks (28/30) would budge from there out, leaving both teams in compliance with the Parity City scoring ordinance in a 2-2 sister kiss. You read that right, Perks was nearly four times as busy as Cima in nets! It will not surprise you to learn that White’s -53 shot differential is by far the league’s worst, nor will you be shocked to read that their (now) seven goals for…also the league’s worst. The saving grace has (not surprisingly) been ‘The Silencer’, who has kept them in every came to the tune of the second best total goals against thus far. Perks and his White mates face a tall order in that department this Sunday, with Neon (twenty goals for) on the schedule, but the flip side is that Neon has also allowed twenty goals. It will be interesting to see which force wins out in that one, but if White cannot find a way to find some potency and prevail post-haste…they’re paste.

The nightcap stayed centered in Parity City, and if you have any measure of reading comprehension/retention, you know that this installment of the Battle Of The Salt Bros™ was a tight, low scoring affair. Fun twist…only a single point, and not a single goal was scored by either of the titular brothers in this, the top dog show down between 5-1-0 Orange and 3-0-3 Blue. Justin Ker made a rare appearance at the rink, and made his presence count with a 1 and 1 outing. The goal came as the first of the game in the first (from Zach Salt and Glenn Pinto), and the assist came on the game-tying Orange tally late in the third (more on that later). Kalen Hunter equalized for Blue less than a minute after the Ker strike, and Maureen Ruchhoeft found her first of the season late in the second (from Mark Ennsmann) to flip the lead in Blue’s favor. It was another unlikely late game hero with that aforementioned game-tying goal for Orange…Janet Goins. Her first of the season at 2:17 lifted Orange back to equal footing, and with both teams having reached their two goal Parity City max, that would be all of the scoring in a second straight 2-2 tie to wrap the Week Seven slate. In a delightfully amusing twist, this game featured the very same goalie match-up (and the very same result) as the 7:00 standoff, as Silas Perks (20/22) filled in for Orange’s Matt Henderson while Jon Cima (12/14) pinch hit for Blue’s Nick Vacchio. Perks was only 50% busier than his counterpart in this one, but the result was the same, and both Orange and Blue are happy to split the points and remain comfortably atop the standings at 5-1-1 and 3-0-4, respectively. The former has the most wins, and the most points to this point in the season, while the latter is the only team remaining with an unblemished loss column. It will be fun to watch how this race for the top spot unfolds down the stretch, but rest assured that both of these teams will be a force in the playoffs, no matter what happens through January play.