SUNDAYS #5 vs. TEAM MICRO:

(vol. 15S, no. 5; newsletter by c.g.)
What is with 5:00p.m. games? On one hand they are good because you can get home and have a normal night, but on the other hand it just seems wrong to be playing so early.

This past Sunday the Pirates faced-off against the Micro for a Sunday early evening matinee. The only skater missing from the Pirates skating line-up was Dan Dipierro (who was given the wrong game time when he phoned the front desk — Dan is the third Pirate to be a victim of this, so check our coastalpirates.com for the times and avoid calling GoodSports); with Glenn Farkas out for the season with an injury to his something-or-other muscle, that brought the roster to nine for this match. Harris, however was absent for observance purposes, and we were left in the capable hands of Doug Collimore (who allowed only one goal in his previous Pirate outing this season). The lines consisted of the big three Farrell-Richardson-McLaughlin on defense while the forward lines were combos of LeMatty-Russ-Goione and Ralz-Ferraro-Wildman.

The game was a fast paced affair from the outset and the Micro controlled play through most of the 1st period. The Pirates were on their heels and the Micro capitalized by scoring a goal midway through the 1st when one snuck through the five-hole on Collimore (who had been pretty much shelled up to this point). The Pirates withstood the barrage and actually gained their composure to apply a good deal of their own pressure late in the period.

The 2nd period saw a complete turnaround of the 1st period's events, when the Pirates came out gunning. The Ferraro line put some steady pressure on Steve Carr, but he was able to turn each puck away. Ralz had a great opportunity, but had the puck go wide when he crashed the net. Russ and LeMatty were again working well together and almost put a few of their own in. Defensively, Farrell, and McLaughlin jumped up into the play throughout and helped to create oppurtunities without too much defensive damage; it helped that Doug Collimore was up to whatever came his way, and kept the game close. Between the periods, Steve Carr skated past me and asked me if the “shooting gallery was over,” then shook his head and went to talk with his teammates.

The Pirates continued to fire shots at Carr, and looked as though somehow they were going to get this game tied up when “it” happened. The 3rd period had one of the flukiest plays I have witnessed in a while: On a safe play behind our own net, Farrell looked to bank a pass off the boards and out of the zone (the type of play you see about 100 times a game) — only this time the puck bounced off the point where the boards meet the entry door and took a 90-degree turn straight into the high slot; there a Micro player (who was completely out of the play) was handed the gift of the game when he found himself alone in the high slot with the puck — he made the most of his oppurtunity, and just like that the score was 2-0 Micro. The Pirates would pull the goalie with about 2:00 minutes to play, but (thanks to a few questionable calls) were unable to mount much pressure. The Micro would add the emptynetter, so on paper this looks like a 3-0 blowout. But it would be a fluke goal that, in fact, changed the outcome.