SUNDAYS #2 vs. BLACKHAWKS:

(vol. 15S, no. 2; newsletter by c.g.)
The Coastal Pirates skated against the “A” division Blackhawks in our second game of the Fall season. Our last meeting against them was a 7-0 shutout in their favor, and with their bench that looking even more stocked this time around, the Pirates would need an excellent effort to keep it competitive. The Pirates skated with nine skaters, as Glenn Farkas missed his second game of this young season and may be out indefinitely (medical tests are pending). The defense was the trio of Richardson-Farrell-McLaughlin, while the forward lines consisted of Nicolosi-LeMatty-DiPierro and Ferraro-Wildman-Goione. Harris was in the net, as usual, when the game began.

The 1st period began with the usual flurry as both teams tried to get something going immediately. The pace was fast throughout and only some strong play by Harris and the defense kept the Hawks off the board. The Pirates offense was getting its own share of chances, but they too were stymied by quality goaltending and defensive play. The 1st ended with neither team registering a point, 0-0.

The 2nd period was more of the same as both teams pushed for the go-ahead score, but were met with solid team play throughout. As the game wore on the Blackhawks seemed too become more and more frustrated, and started to get a little more chippy in an effort to gain an advantage. Jimmy Ferraro (never one to be pushed around) was the target of a few cheap shots and gave back a few of his own. Both teams spent some time in the penalty box, but nothing would come of the opportunities.

The 3rd period began knotted at zero and the Blackhawks — who thought they would have a cakewalk — found themselves in a dog fight instead. If not for some stellar goaltending by the Hawks' goalie this game could easily have been ahead in favor of the Pirates. Just a few minutes into the 3rd, Jimmy Ferraro was called for a 2:00 minute penalty and Mike Farrell got a questionable bench minor by telling the only ref his thoughts on the call. That left the Blackhawks with two full minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage. The Pirates were able to kill off that powerplay and when Jimmy and Mike got out of the box they immediately contributed to the first goal of the night; on the play Mike fired a shot after chasing down the puck into the corner, and Jimmy was right there to bang home the rebound for the 1-0 lead. The Pirates may have caught a break a short time later, when a puck appeared to sneak behind Harris for the tying, but when the play settled it was ruled “no goal.” A few ticks later, however, the Blackhawks would find luck going their way when a shot in front deflected off a Pirate shaft and found the net for the game-tying goal. With a little over 2:00 minutes remaining, the Blackhawks were called for a penalty and the Pirates would have the chance to finish the game with an extra skater. With just :30 remaining, however, the Blackhawks took advantage of a confused Pirate line change in our zone when they scored off a face-off to take the 2-1 lead. After pulling our goalie, the Pirates came close (now with the two-man advantage), but couldn’t get the tying goal.