OVER THE MOON

The Week Eight slate kicked off with a battle of teams on shaky ground in the standings, with Captain Jeremy Copp's 2-3-1 Grey having last felt the joy of victory in a Week Three 3-2 squeak past then-winless Maroon, and Captain Emily Bennington's 0-4-0 Green still seeking their first W of the Fall 2026 campaign. In fairness, two of Green's 'non-win' outcomes were actually 'losses' to Mother Nature, with the make-up matchups now on the books for Week Nine and a freshly-spawned Week Ten, but securing zero points in four games was no less a cause for concern for Bennington & Friends. Green's superstar sniper, Kalen Hunter, had featured in just two of Green's four complete games coming in, but as Grey's luck would have it, he was back in the lineup...and suffice it to say he had an major impact. Dan Jurgens got the ball rolling (into Grey's net) early, notching his first (!) of the season at 9:15 (Kalen Hunter), and Green remained on the front foot throughout the first, racking up a 13-2 edge in shots. Two more of that baker's dozen found twine in the first, with Vance Morra's third of the season at 1:39 (Kalen Hunter & Wendy Enright) coming just eleven seconds before Kalen's third of the season (Morra & Kevin Hunter) to send Green into the first break up 3-0. Rob Gaudio would finally fire back for Grey at 4:54 in the second (Pat Gladstone & Mark DeGraffenreid), but Dan Jurgens would restore Green's three goal advantage at 2:47 (Kalen Hunter & Captain Bennington), and Kalen's second of the game at 2:20 (Jurgens) would push that lead to four. Gaudio's second of the period/game at 1:35 (DeGraffenreid & Gladstone) cut the deficit back to three, with Grey drawing some strange solace in that fact that they had 'tied a period'. Grey would actually go on to 'win a period' in the third, but only just barely...Gaudio completed his hat trick at 0:23 (DeGraffenreid & Chris Koziol) with Jon Cima (27/32) out of the net for the extra attacker, and as that was the lone goal from either side in the final ten minutes of play, super sub, John Kushneryk (15/18), and Green would hold on to lock up their first win, 5-3 over Grey. Kalen's 2 and 3 proved (as if we needed any further proof) that he is THE engine of this team, and Green have to hope that Dan '<insert other vital car part>' Jurgens is OK after stepping on the ball and going down hard in the third period. Green's first win in five tries now has them legitimately aspiring to escape the cut line, just one point behind Maroon (spoiler alert...they also earned their first win in Week Eight), with two make-up games in hand, including a potentially vital match with the very same Maroon. The loss leaves Grey on even shakier ground heading into their final two games, which come against quality opponents in Brown and Teal.

Captain Ryan Karns' Blue and Captain Shawna Hamon's White entered Week Eight with twin 2-3-1 records, and as a fun, quirky extra layer of symmetry, both teams notched a tie followed by a win, coming in. The oft-absent Brendan Jew was out of the lineup for Blue, but he was the only scratch for either side in a true 'crossroads' clash, with the winner vaulting to considerable playoff safety at 3-3-1, and the loser left lingering along the cut line at 2-4-1. Matt Rogers drew first blood at 8:06 in the first (Eddie Zuniga), and Alex Rockoff doubled White's lead with his second of the season at 5:52 (Ty Pereira) before Jason Olver produced Blue's first response at 5:27 (Josh Wirt & Jenna Chercoe) to cut the Blue deficit back to one heading into the first break. The second period very nearly belonged entirely to White, with a trio of goals breaking this game wide open...Chris Fiore at 9:03 (Rockoff & Captain Hamon, Andrew Becker at 4:55 (Zuniga & Rogers), and Fiore again at 2:07 (Rogers & Kimberly Hernandez). The Becker goal...the first of his SDFHL career! CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW! Josh Wirt would log the equivalent of whispering 'hey, that's not nice' while being pushed off a cliff, scoring his eighth of the season with 0:08 to go in the middle period (Olver), leaving the score at 5-2 White, through two. Karns' & Company would get no closer in the third, as White continued to press and found goals from Luke Wolmer at 6:23 (Captain Hamon & Rogers), and Captain Hamon herself...her first of the season (!) at 3:44 (Wolmer). Mark Chercoe followed in Wirt's 'too little, too late' footsteps with a final Blue tally at 1:21 (Wirt), but it would serve little beyond closing the 'Chercoe Cup'™ scoring gap between Mark and sister, Jenna (she's still three points up on him). John Kushneryk (11/14) enjoyed White's 7-3 triumph, his second win of the evening, this time one that 'counts', improving White's records to 3-3-1, while Matt Henderson (18/25) and Blue had their two game non-loss streak snapped, leaving them at a very vulnerable 2-4-1 heading into their final two games.

The 'Giggity Bowl'™ served as an enticing spread at the middle of Week Eight, with two strong, evenly-matched-on-paper sides looking to pound home a fourth win and all but officially punch playoff passage. Sadie Hellstom was out of action for Captain Wasif Hussain's crew, but that big hole in Brown's lineup was filled very nicely by Shawna Hamon, and with all players present and accounted for on Captain Mason Holcomb's side of the rink for Pink, I have to confess I was rather torn between these two great options (for winner of the game). Kyle Snyder led an early Pink thrust, scoring his EIGHTEENTH of the season at 5:16 (Justin Stege), and his nineteenth at 3:16 (Craig Russell). With two in the Pink column, it followed that there would be one in the Brown column...Brennen Abel's twelfth of the campaign at 1:34 (Hamon). Jason Lee would restore Pink's two goal edge with his second of the season at 4:58 in the second (Kushneryk), meaning Brown would need to find a way to backdoor a win with a steady push in the third. Shawna Hamon earned her massive sub bonus check with a second strike of the night, this one under the Brown flag to cut Pink's lead to one at 7:43 (Eli Schonbrun). Schonbrun took the scoring baton and filled the remaining gap with it, notching his second of the season at 2:41 (Jason Northrup & Abel) to draw the hole whole game level at 3-3. Honestly, it was a fitting end, leaving both teams sore, sweaty, and satisfied...and wanting more. Captain Holcomb (20/23) and Will Heinl (21/24) both get the job done in the end, with both teams coming...away with a valuable point in the standings entering the final weeks of play.

The 1979 entry 'Moonraker' catches plenty of shade in the all-time rankings of Bond films, with the rather campy end result of the project owing in large part to a seriously misguided ambition to cash in on the rising space sci-fi trend. Captain Grant Goins' namesake 'Maroonraker' has fared about as well in the 'rankings' this season, sagging to 0-4-1 coming into Week Eight, and desperately in need of a win with their playoff picture growing ever dimmer. Captain Bryan Ossa's Charcoal, by contrast...one of only two lossless teams coming in, with every reason to believe that the zero in the second place in their record would remain intact against a desperate, but ultimately deflated and very defeatable opponent. Charcoal would be without their go-to gunner, Owen Perks, but the absence of Chris Malki for Maroon quieted the sentiment that Perks' absence would hurt the favorites all that much...it was certainly not enough to keep them from winning. Maroon held a slim 7-6 edge in shots over the course of the first period, but Jon Zygelman accounted for the statistical edge that really counts, firing home his fourth of the season at 0:48 (Ralph Barbato) to jump Maroon in front heading into the first break. The shot count advantage grew to 11-6 in Maroon's favor through a scoreless second, but it was the third period totals that really had me doing a quadruple take when typing up the boxes...a TWENTY-F'ING-ONE TO ONE Maroon shooting clinic! I did not bear witness to this game, but Chris Tran must have been Olympic break dancing out there to keep this one close...unreal! Tran did indeed keep things close, but Ralph Barbato's first career SDFHL goal at 9:05 (Justin Ker & Joe Malki) gave Maroon some much needed breathing room and their first two-goal lead of the season! CONGRATULATIONS, RALPH! A Ker empty-netter with 1:33 to play (Captain Goins) left Chris Tran (36/38) perhaps the hardest luck losing goalie in recent memory, but also gave Gabe Davenport (12/12) his first career shutout as the last line of defense in Maroon's first win of the season, 3-0. CONGRATULATIONS, GABE! The loss is a mere speedbump/morale dip for Charcoal, while the win may well prove absolutely vital to Maroon's playoff survival. Goins' & Company will still need at least three more points to push through to the second season, having lost to both Blue and Grey who currently sit just above the cut line. If they manage a good result against White, their playoff passage will hinge on a massive make-up showdown with Green in Week Ten. Sadly, Maroon still has their 'auto loss' scheduled just before that make-up melee, so if they haven't secured at least two points coming into the meeting with Green, their season will flop harder than 'Moonraker'.

The Week Eight nightcap was another 'auto loss' entry, and by (my own personal sanity) rule, I will expend minimal energy in recapping it. Captain Dorothy Kline's Teal cruised through the early season at a 3-0-1 clip, but came into their 'auto loss' on a two game slide, with neither of those losses falling in the 'close, but no cigar' category. The hope...at least keep the game close against a 5-0-0 Neon side who would be without the services of Matt Drake, Scott Wieland, and Steve Pugliese. Teal has featured a rather balanced scoring profile across their roster all season, but without the even-more-absence-prone-than-Brendan-Jew Jackson Tomaszewski out of action once again, it would be down to the likes of Adam Schindler, Josh Tran, and Nick Vacchio to carry the offensive load, while also playing strong enough team defense to (hope to) contain Thanos, Captain Vankoughnett, and Jim LaGrossa. Lo and behold, Schindler would be the first to act, continuing his surprisingly scorching hand with his EIGHTH of the season at 8:58 (Vacchio) to put Neon in an ultra rare 'playing from behind' mode moving into the second. To absolutely no one's surprise, Neon would battle back and take control in the second, with LaGrossa evening the score with an unassisted strike at 7:41, and Alex Giummo potting his twentieth to give Neon their first lead of the game at 5:37 (Gordon Schmidt). It was Schindler AGAIN to knot the score at two apiece just twenty-one ticks later (Josh Tran)...his ninth of the season. Again...for context...Schindler amassed just ELEVEN goals in SIXTY-SIX prior career SDFHL games, and he has NINE in just seven games this season. Drug tests are on order, and the league is taking this matter very seriously. You already know how the rest of this game went...Giummo on the powerplay at 2:57 in the second to grab the lead back for Neon (LaGrossa), then three more from Giummo to open the third...8:45 from LaGrossa, 5:00 from Captain Vankoughnett and LaGrossa, and 3:47 from Steph Palomo Schmidt. A natural hat trick in less than five minutes...this league is, as the kids say, 'cooked'. Vacchio chipped home a last gasp for Teal at 3:13 (Tran), but the damage was done, just as the bigger picture damage has been done to this league...*sigh*. Nick Meglich (14/17) and Neon notched another ho-hum 6-3 win, while Chuck Bender (22/28) and Teal suffered a third straight L. Promise me you'll let me know when you have seen enough of this, too...