Winter Is Coming vs Purple Parrots
1st Period:
WIN (1-0) – Luke (6) (unassisted) (9:31)
2nd Period:
WIN (2-0) – AFrey (5) (unassisted) (5:23)
3rd Period:
PAR (1-2) – David Holland (2) (assisted by Michelle) (1:43)
PAR (2-2) – Stu (7) (assisted by Tarnow) (7:52)
Shootout winner by Nate Lerner
GAME NOTES: This game was the continuation of a game that was supposed to be played on the original season finale date of May 7, got pushed back to May 17’s makeup night, and finally got played out after the first playoff game. Good lord…Luke got the scoring started on a highlight reel play just as the rain began to fall. Jermaine Jackson would have been proud, although I don’t think anyone got that terrible joke…sadly, when the game resumed on Friday, Luke was strumming the old bass down in Nebraska (not a euphemism for sex)…Alex scored on a 2 on 1 with a shot just over the glove of Tim K to give Winter a 2-0 lead, which they held going into the intermission…sadly for fans of the Stark family, the third period was not kind to the blue team. Dave Holland got his team on the board less than two minutes in with a shot through traffic that went through Zisser’s legs and cut the lead in half…with about five minutes left to play in the game, Tarnow threw down a sweet through-the-legs deflection that was stopped by Zisser, but Stu was unguarded on the back post and buried the rebound to tie the game…in OT, both teams had chances. Mike Mincieli had a partial breakaway and had Tim K beat, but couldn’t get his stick on the ball with a defender bearing down on him. Stu had a rising shot that JUST tipped off Zisser’s glove…in the shootout, “Nasty” Nate Lerner was the hero as he feathered a quick shot low blocker for the victory. With the win, the Parrots attained the #2 seed and earned a bye into the final four where they will face the winner of the 3/6/7 matchup next week. Winter would earn the #4 seed and face the 5/8 winner later in the evening.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Campbell/Tim K (2 GA)
2nd – Luke (1G)
1st – Stu (1G)
Chosen 1s vs My Cup Size Is Stanley
1st Period:
CHO (1-0) – Jeff (1) (assisted by Brad) (0:50)
CHO (2-0) – Riegler (1) (assisted by Rich) (1:57)
CUP (1-2) – Sammi (1) (assisted by Hogg) (5:49)
CHO (3-1) – Jeff (2) (assisted by Riegler) (7:59)
2nd Period:
CUP (2-3) – Gabe (1) (PP) (assisted by Jenn) (1:25)
3rd Period:
CUP (3-3) – Gabe (2) (SH) (assisted by Andrea) (3:01)
CHO (4-3) – Jeff (3) (assisted by Riegler) (6:15)
CUP (4-4) – Hogg (1) (assisted by DRo) (9:05)
CUP (5-4) – Gabe (3) (assisted by Gene) (12:59)
GAME NOTES: The first playoff game of the Spring brought fireworks throughout and an insane, last second finish for the ages…Gabe was late for this game and before the ball drop, Jeff told me it would be great to get a quick one before he arrived. Then he made it happen with a goal just 50 seconds in to give his team a 1-0 lead…Riegler scored just a minute later off a great pass from Rich, and two minutes into the contest Cup Size was down two goals to the #8 seeded Chosen 1s…Sammi got the black team on the board with the first goal of her D5 career on a feed from Hogg. Just two minutes later, however, Jeff put in his 2nd of the game and the Chosen 1s went into the intermission up two goals…when I texted Hicks that the score was 3-1 after one, his response was “Gabe’s about to go into God Mode.” Right on schedule, Gabe got his team within one on a PP goal. Early in the third, he tied it with a shorthanded marker, making him the first player in league history to score a power play and shorthanded goal in the same game…Jeff completed his hat trick to put the Chosen 1s ahead with 6:45 to play. After a Cup Size timeout, Hogg was able to knot it up at 4 on a deflection of a shot by DRo…and of course, now we get to the ending, one of the craziest in league history. With 8 seconds left there was a faceoff in the Chosen 1s zone. Gene was able to dig the ball out of the corner and throw it in front with two seconds left. There was a mad scramble and Gabe incredibly batted the ball out of the air and into the net as time expired. After a brief conversation between the refs and timekeeper we went to video review, where the timestamp conclusively showed that the ball had crossed the line under eight seconds after the ball drop. And with that, Cup Size moves through to the next round…with a hat trick of his own, Gabe becomes the all-time D5 leading playoff scorer, tying Cherie’s 8 points but holding the goals and games played tiebreakers. His only other playoff game saw him put up three goals and an assist in a heartbreaking loss last season…with the win, Cup Size moved on to face the #4 seed, Winter Is Coming, later in the evening.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Hogg (1G, 1A)
2nd – Jeff (3G)
1st – Gabe (3G)
Rainy Day Kids Club vs Hungry Hippos
2nd Period:
HIP (1-0) – Hicks (1) (assisted by Jack) (2:32)
KID (1-1) – Akhil (1) (unassisted) (7:48)
HIP (2-1) – Spencer (1) (assisted by Jack) (9:00)
HIP (3-1) – Hicks (2) (unassisted) (10:38)
3rd Period:
KID (2-3) – Scott Metz (1) (assisted by Denis) (11:39)
GAME NOTES: The 6 v 7 matchup saw the Hippos, winners of 4 of their last 5 games, facing off against the Kids Club who finished the season 2-1-1 in their last four games…Hicks was a man possessed in this one, getting his team out to an early lead with a goal early in the 2nd after spinning off the boards and ripping a shot through traffic high glove…Akhil tied the game on a quick shot that went in and out so quick there was some consideration from the Hippos bench on whether to challenge or not. After a bit of deliberation, they decided not to and the goal stood… Spencer and Hicks put up two goals in a minute and a half to put the Hippos up by two going into the intermission…the Kids Clubs had some chances in the third but the Hippos D was stout and when all else failed, Dave was up to the task. Scottie Metz did get his team within one with a minute and 21 seconds remaining but the Hippos were able to pressure the green team’s defense hard enough that they couldn’t pull the goalie until there were only about 35 seconds left. After Sarah pinned the ball behind the net, the Hippos were able to hold on for a tight 3-2 victory…Tadpole Jack had two assists and is possibly on his way to cobra status. Then again if he goes the entire playoffs without scoring a single goal it may be tadpole forever…the Kids Club end the season strong with a strong effort missing several top players, but the Hippos move on to the next round to face the Cheetahs.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Dave GDR (2 GA)
2nd – Jack (2A)
1st – Hicks (2G)
Winter Is Coming vs My Cup Size Is Stanley
1st Period:
CUP (1-0) – Hogg (2) (unassisted) (3:19)
WIN (1-1) – Mike (1) (assisted by Denis) (11:12)
CUP (2-1) – Andrea (1) (unassisted) (12:02)
2nd Period:
CUP (3-1) – Gabe (4) (assisted by Jenn) (11:31)
3rd Period:
WIN (2-3) – Mike (2) (assisted by Nico) (10:27)
GAME NOTES: Facing a severely depleted Winter squad, a full strength Cup Size team was simply too much to take…Hogg got the scoring started early in the first on a shot that tipped off Zisser’s glove and found the back of the net…late in the 1st it appeared that your league manager might have destroyed his foot when, off a loose ball scrum, it twisted awkwardly under him. After a couple minutes of hating life, he was able to limp his way back into the game…Mike tied the game up for the blue team with 108 seconds (Lost fans rejoice), but just 50 seconds later Mike tried to clear the ball out of a crease scramble and it went off Andrea’s leg and into the net…Gabe put black ahead by two goals on an end-to-end rush and a quick shot that beat Zisser short side…Mike buried his 2nd of the game from in front to cut the Cup Size lead to one goal. After a timeout by Team Coming, they threw everything they had at the black team but sadly it appears they had already had their last orgasm of the season. Cup Size held on and will head to the final four where they will face the first place Goonies, who they actually were the first team to beat a few weeks ago. Winter finishes the season wondering what might have been if JRo didn’t tear his PCL, Luke wasn’t a jazz superstar and it hadn’t rained every Tuesday for over a month.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Andrea (1G)
2nd – Mike (2G)
1st – Gabe (1G)
Hungry Hippos vs The Charging Cheetahs
1st Period:
HIP (1-0) – Sena (1) (assisted by Sarah Herr) (4:43)
2nd Period:
CHA (1-1) – Sweet Baby James (1) (assisted by Carlin) (5:30)
CHA (2-1) – Chris (1) (assisted by Sweet Baby James) (10:33)
3rd Period:
CHA (3-1) – Alex Rockoff (1) (unassisted) (1:39)
HIP (2-3) – Ariel (1) (assisted by Courtney) (2:29)
HIP (3-3) – Spencer (1) (assisted by Ariel) (3:15)
Overtime:
HIP (4-3) – Ariel (2) (assisted by Sena)
GAME NOTES: The final game of the evening saw the 6th seeded Hippos face off against the 3rd seeded Cheetahs in a battle of elite jungle animals. Both teams were severely depleted roster-wise; for the 2nd straight game, the Hippos played with 5 men and 3 women while the Cheetahs had 6 and 3…Sena got the scoring started with her first career playoff goal on a feed from Sarah that tipped off the Cheetahs defender…Sweet Baby James put his team on the board midway through the second on a great feed from Carlin. Note that this was a rare point for Regular Carlin and not her higher scoring evil twin, Free Agent Carlin…Chris put the Cheetahs ahead on a controversial play which saw James knock down Ariel en route to the ball and throw a pass in front where Chris knocked it home. Both refs agreed that while McQuade is a savage, he maintained his line towards the ball the entire time and did not shift to hit Ariel nor do anything overly aggressive (besides the accidental elbow to the back which looks pretty painful on replay) so the call on the ice of a goal stood…Rockoff buried possibly the snipe of his career 99 seconds into the third period. Unfortunately, the camera was saving itself for end of game and OT so it wasn’t captured. If you can believe it, we went through three full batteries on this night…with the Cheetahs up 3-1 early in the 3rd, the Hippos had to turn things around quickly. Ariel, who is always telling me he shouldn’t be a first round pick, proved himself to be a liar in this one as he got the scoring started just a minute after Rockoff’s goal. Just after that, Spencer ripped one past deLacy and tied the game at 3, delighting the crowd and especially those who bet on yellow…the game remained tied and headed to overtime which, in the first four games, is a continuous 3 on 3. After two and a half minutes of back and forth action, Ariel proved to be the hero as he has proven to be before, rolling to his right and releasing a tricky backhander against the grain and just under the blocker to score a victory for the Hippos and send them through to their second straight final four, where they will face the Purple Parrots…with the win, Dave GDR not only remains the winningest goalie in D5 playoff history but extends his lead. He now has six playoff victories and counting; the next highest on the list are Tim Burke and Tim K with two each en route to championship victories.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
3rd – Sweet Baby James (1G, 1A)
2nd – Sena (1G, 1A)
1st – Ariel (2G, 1A)