WEDNESDAYS
#7 vs.
O'NEILLS:
(vol.
8W, no. 7; newsletter by b.n.)
New York City just declared a drought emergency. Due to the small amount
of rainfall over the last couple years, the reservoirs from upstate NY that
they rely on for water are dangerously low. In other news, the authority
that regulates the reservoirs in our area just approved a plan to draw more
river water into the reservoirs to sure up capacity. Also suffering from
a drought is #67 of the Coastal Pirates. He hasn't scored a goal since Harris
announced in the newsletter last season that he was within reach of the
Coastal Pirate's all-time scoring record for the Wednesday night league
(or something like that). So while the rest of us are concerned about drinking
goose crap from the Manasquan river -- #67 is looking at just two more games
in which to breakout of the slump and prevent a goal-less season. But enough
about #67 -- nobody really wants to hear about his struggles with the stick.
What they really want to hear about is the "Toilet Bowl Roll"
or the "Egyptian Poke Check Boogie" (I'm not kidding, that's really
what they
want to hear about).
But before we get to that, some thoughts on this week's attachment. What
happens when Chris G stands in front of the net? Open the attachment and
see. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there also was a game last night! For our
second 11:00 p.m. game in two days (and according to Harris, the third game
in three days for a number of players ... Harris must not have been good
at math in school) we found ourselves facing off against theO'Neills. After
the drumming we suffered the night before (yeah, I know we played hard but
anyway you cut it, it was still a drumming) it was imperative that we got
off to a strong start to keep up our confidence. So with the addition of
Jimmy F filling in for Scott Miller the team set out to prove to the world
that the Pirates could bounce back against a quality opponent. Unfortunately,
though we were playing hard, the O'Neills jumped out to the early lead on
a shorthanded goal. By the end of the 1st, the Pirates found themselves
in the hole by the score of 2-0.
For those of us that experienced the night before, (which was everyone but
Dave Matthews who will be receiving his $10.00 fine in the mail for failing
to follow the team's RSVP requirements) the game started to take on the
look of deja-vu all over again. With the score 3-0, Harris made one of the
saves of the game: With the O'Neills swarming in front of the net, Harris
was able to kick a puck with the tip of his wheel that was fired point blank;
the save was crucial to keeping us within three goals (the rebound went
right back to the O'Neills' who then fired it at the opposite side of the
net, but the puck ricocheted off the outside of the post and was cleared).
The save by Harris ignited the team and it was shortly thereafter that Russ
took a pass from Jimmy F and fired the puck to put us on the board. The
momentum had clearly shifted. Shortly thereafter Russ took the puck up the
boards and fired it to BB who gained the zone and passed it to Chris who
managed to get behind the D and found himself alone on the goal. Chris fired
the puck and the goalie dropped to make the save; Wildman swooped-in and
buried the rebound for the score. The 2nd ended with the score 3-2.
The 3rd period began with the O'Neills capitalizing on a shot from the blueline
that Harris lost in a screen and put the O'Neills up by two once again.
The Pirates continued the strong play in the 3rd with more outstanding plays
by Harris who stuffed one of the O'Neills on a breakaway to once again keep
us in the game. Glen Chambers also had a strong night on the blueline. #67
had a chance to break out of his goal scoring drought when he was able to
shed a defenseman who was hooking the goose crap out of him, but he backhanded
the shot wide. The Pirates got the game back to within one when Jimmy F
was stripped of the puck as he was heading over the Pirate blueline; the
puck went directly to #67 who fired it right back to Jimmy who was still
heading up the rink. Jimmy corralled the puck and took it over the blueline.
At this point, the puck was doing the "Toilet Bowl Roll" (which,
according to Jimmy is when the puck was spinning in a small circle as if
it was being flushed down the toilet), Jimmy fired a fluttering shot that
somehow managed to handcuff the O'Neill goalie and flushed its way down
the 5-hole for the score. The Pirates continued to play hard and with 2:00
minutes left pulled the goalie for the extra attacker, but couldn't get
the equalizer.
