SUNDAYS #8 vs. ZOMBIES:

(vol. 14S, no. 8; newsletter by c.g.)
The Sunday Night Pirates came into this weekend's game sporting a rather unimpressive 2-4-1 record. The Zombies are certainly no slouches and by the way they began the game you just knew this one wasn't going to be an easy one. We started the evening with ten skaters — missing only Scott LeMatty (who was sitting in traffic on the Parkway until the end of the 2nd). The defense was manned by Richardson, McLaughlin, Farrell and Scooby, while the offense featured the lines of Russ-Wildman-Goione and DiPierro-Ralz-Farkas.

The 1st period began at a furious pace as both teams tried to establish dominance. The Zombies drew first blood off a rebound, but Russ evened things up 1-1. The Zombies took back the lead, but it didn't take long for Russ to add another, when he put away one of Wildman's rebounds for the 2-2 goal. With time dwindling in the 1st, Glenn Farkas fired a rocket just outside the face-off circle (assist to Kevin) for the 3-2 lead at the first intermission. The 1st period was a fast-paced affair as the play quickly turned up and down the ice. Since the Zombies (forwards and defense) were pinching quite a bit, the Pirates defense had to be sharp to prevent the odd-man rush. As one would expect from this foursome, they were up to the task all night.

The 2nd period was filled with chances for both sides, but the Zombies came away with the only tally to knot things at 3-3.

In the 3rd, Mike Farrell would see to it that the Pirates would regain the lead as he grabbed a puck in front of the Zombie net, patiently waited until the goalie committed and then roofed it past him for what would be the gamewinner. The hockey gods then decided to give me a break as they gave me a freebie for the insurance goal: Keith raced into the offensive zone carrying the puck and dished it to me just over the blueline — I attempted to pass it back, but a Zombies' skate blocked it towards the corner; I again attempted to throw it out in front to Keith, but this time it hit the netminder instead and bounced in off his leg. Not intentional, but I'll take it.

The defensive play by everyone was stingy and while Harris looked a little rusty early on, he pulled it together and helped us to squeak out a win against a good team. The next few weeks look to be difficult as we face the Flukes, Flyers and Blizzard.