2025 SSL Week 5 Recap
Week 5 brought two games packed with big swings, gritty comebacks, and late drama. The Polar Bears and Raptors battled to an electric draw, while the River Dogs flexed their depth scoring to stay ahead of a scrappy Rough Riders push.
🦖 Raptors 5 – Polar Bears 5 (Draw)
This one felt like two games in one. The Polar Bears jumped out hot in the first period behind goals from Ondrej Adamek, Chris Bourne (including a solo effort), and Matt Sadarangani, with Parker McQuillan pulling strings up front. The Raptors managed one back through Steve Foltz from Karl Pereira, but still trailed 3–1 after one.
In the second, the Raptors dug in. Steven Jurkiewicz finished a feed from Victor Melendez Gonzalez, but the Bears’ McQuillan struck back to keep the gap. Down two entering the third, the Raptors showed the grit that’s becoming their trademark. Murtaza Raza and Jurkiewicz flipped the momentum, combining for two goals to tie it at 4–4. Karl Pereira then buried what looked like the winner, set up by Raza’s sharp vision.
But the Bears weren’t done. With just seconds left on the clock, Tom Hogan found space in the slot and buried the equalizer off McQuillan’s late feed — a last-gasp goal that snatched a point and left the Raptors shaking their heads at what might have been.
Final Score: Raptors 5 – Polar Bears 5 (Draw)
🌊 River Dogs 7 – Rough Riders 5
The River Dogs turned in another statement win, but the Rough Riders made them earn every bit of it. Sean Lucas and Nick Baldaino got the Dogs rolling early — Baldaino putting up two in the first period, one solo and one off Greg Gleichman’s setup. Courtney Cooke slipped one in for the Riders before the first buzzer, assisted by Jacob Doucette.
The second period was a scoring spree. Malachy Cole struck twice for the Dogs, with Vivian Sievers picking up an assist. The Rough Riders’ Sam Leone answered with a pair of his own — once unassisted, then again from Jeremy Sacra — before Sacra buried one, too, with Leone returning the favor. But Matthew Dillard’s goal from Dom Sadarangani gave the Dogs enough cushion to weather the storm.
Aylla DeSantiago, who now sits atop the league leaderboard in assists, added her own mark to the scoresheet in the third, finishing off a sharp setup from Greg Gleichman. That insurance proved crucial as the Riders made one final push — Brandon Witkop’s late marker from Courtney Ray made it interesting, but the Dogs’ early surge held up.
Final Score: River Dogs 7 – Rough Riders 5
Week 5 Takeaway
Two games, two lessons: no lead is safe, and no side is backing down easy. As the standings tighten, every goal, every last-minute push, and every gritty shift keeps raising the bar for what SSL floorball looks like in Richmond.
