September brought Thursday hockey back with four weeks of action, two unbeaten teams, and enough goals to wear out a VHS rewind button. With the October 1 games now in the books, most clubs are four games into the season and round one is past its halfway mark. Time to hit rewind on the opening month.
Affordable Tent sets the pace
Affordable Tent finished September at 3-0-1 with seven points, scoring 16 goals and allowing just seven. A 7-4 opening-night win over Spritzers got things rolling, followed by a 1-1 tie with Outhouse and consecutive 4-1 victories over Scituate Lumber and John's Drywall. That is a strong opening month by any measure. Somewhere, a Nintendo controller is demanding to know which cheat code they used.
Connecticut National keeps it close
Connecticut National also made it through September unbeaten. After a 3-3 tie with Scituate Lumber, National edged Elayna's 3-2 and Spritzers 2-1. Another 2-1 win over John's Drywall on October 1 extended the winning streak to three and brought National level with Affordable Tent at seven points. Three straight one-goal wins: apparently, the suspense dial only goes to eleven.
The rest of the September story
Elayna's delivered a pair of six-goal performances in September, beating Outhouse 6-1 and Scituate Lumber 6-3. Spritzers collected its first win with a 4-1 result against Outhouse, while John's Drywall opened with a 3-2 victory over Lumber and followed it with a 2-2 tie against Elayna's.
Scituate Lumber and Outhouse both picked up September ties but entered October searching for their first wins. Outhouse's 1-1 draw with Affordable Tent was a reminder that even the leaders can get held up. Think Friday night at Blockbuster when someone ahead of you is still choosing a movie.
The names lighting up the scoresheet
Player totals include games through October 1.
Jonathan “The High Score” Murphy
Connecticut National • 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points
Murphy leads the league in points and sits second in assists. He has been filling the scoresheet like someone found the unlimited-credits button.
Jim “The Goalden Child” Riel
Affordable Tent • 6 goals, 2 assists, 8 points
Riel shares the goals lead with Elayna's Kris Robbin, who also has six goals and nine points. Two scorers at the top, and neither appears interested in pressing pause.
Mike “The Mixtape Maker” Sendley
Elayna's • 2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points
Sendley leads the league in assists and shares second place in points with Robbin. He keeps setting up his teammates' favorite tracks, helping Elayna's reach a league-high 19 team goals.
September established the pace, and October has already delivered a seven-goal outburst and a first-time winner. There is plenty of first-round hockey left. Keep the skates sharp, the shifts moving, and the Walkman batteries fresh.