SUNDAYS #7 vs. ZOMBIES:

(vol. 11S, no. 7; newsletter by c.g.)
Earlier in the season when teams look ahead at their schedules, there are certain games that you circle on the calendar — these are the teams you just can't wait to play. They may be teams that we have a long-standing rivalry with, or maybe they are teams that you feel that you could score a few goals against. This Sunday night's contest was just that sort of game because the Zombies caught us by surprise in our first meeting when that traitorous #67 (a.k.a. TPOC) provided the goals necessary to down the Pirates. So this was the rematch — the one where Russ would take out his frustrations on TPOC while leading the Pirates to a thrashing victory over the unsuspecting Zombies. It's kind of hard to try and psyche up for that killer instinct about a guy who comes walking in with his wife and children in tow, fully regaled in Pirate paraphernalia. I mean he had the jacket, hat, shirt, you name it — he even had his kids dressed in the Pirate colors ... “All part of his plan,” I told myself, as the teams skated to the circle for the opening face-off (though I couldn't help but wonder what his new teammates thought of his chosen attire for the evening). Anyway on to the game ...

The schedule makers made the game a little hard on the Pirates, as the 6:00 p.m. start time made it tough on attendance and the Pirates skated with only seven of their eleven players. The offense was an ever-changing rotation of LeMatty-DiPierro-Goione-Farkas-Ralz (who found time to attend), while the blueline was manned most of the night by Scooby-Russ (with an occasional forward dropping back to spell them). Harris was in net with his Dad in the bleachers so he was pumped for a big game. Russ seemed to have no trouble remembering that — for this night at least — Brian was the enemy, as he and Nukem met up in a big collision on the first shift that saw Brian receive the worst of it.

The Pirates jumped-out to a quick lead as Russ got us on the board early with a blast from the point (with the assist from our goalie). Almost immediately following that shot, Tim broke in and put a shot off the goalie which rebounded to Dan who poked the puck in while falling to the ice. Just like that we had a 2-0 advantage as the 1st was winding down.

Confusion reigned in the 2nd period though, as the constant line-changing found the Pirates out of position for a good portion of the period. With so few players to rotate, it seemed as though you were rarely in the same position twice and it made for a few interesting lapses; unfortunately those lapses also led to more than a few good scoring opportunities for the Zombies, as our 2-0 lead slowly deteriorated. By the end of the 2nd period the score was deadlocked at 2-2. The hitting kept up throughout the 2nd though; unfortunately the “best” hit of the night came when Chris and Scooby met up along the wall going in opposite directions. Regrettably, both thought going to the boards would be the best way to “sneak” by the other ... bad choice (sorry Scooby).

The 3rd period saw the Pirates get back on track as Chris, who was standing alone on the left side of the crease, swept in the go-ahead goal off a shot by Scott LeMatty. The Pirates survived a scare when their Captain (and Pirate scoring leader) Russ Nicolosi was helped from the ice after blocking a shot with his ankle midway through the period. Russ was back a shift later, however, and even put home an insurance goal for the 4-2 lead (with Harris registering his first point of the season on the assist). Scooby would later put away the emptynetter to drive the final nail in the Zombies coffin — for this evening at least.