SUNDAYS #9 vs. JAGUARS:

(vol. 15S, no. 9; newsletter by c.g.)
For the final game of the Pirates' regular season, we got to line up against our arch rivals, the GoodSports USA club team otherwise known as the Jaguars. This was a Sunday Jaguars team unlike any in the past as they came into the final game winless, having lost many of their players to the Bruins. Our possibility of making the Sunday playoffs was in doubt, and no one liked the idea of Consolation games. The roster was a little bare, and John took it upon himself to bring a substitute player whom he knew from work — Tony (a mountain of a man) who said he had not played hockey in over a year.

So the 1st period began, and the Pirates jumped out to a commanding lead. First Wildman potted a goal from the slot (assist to LeMatty and #19). Next up was LeMatty, who received a pass out front from #19, and gave the Pirates a quick 2-0 lead. Wildman would tally his second in the first 10:00 minutes of play when he received another pass from LeMatty. Russ would then close out the scoring in the 1st period (assist from Dan DiPierro). Somewhere along the line the Jags got a goal, but the period ended with the Pirates holding a commanding 4-1 lead.

The 2nd period saw both teams get a goal, but the lead was never closer than three goals. The Pirates lone goal came when #19 passed a puck from the corner to Richardson at the point for the one-timer slapshot. Members of the Bruins started flowing in at this point as they had the game after ours, and wanted to warm-up. The Pirate defense throughout the game was stellar, and kept the Jags without any real scoring chances. Tony (our guest on the blueline) looked solid and wasn't showing any signs of his year layoff, as he provided support for Kevin and Keith.

The 3rd period belonged to the Pirates when LeMatty added a goal and an assist to his record game totals, while Russ and Wildman also added another point to the night's scoresheet. Kevin got down to business scoring a hattrick of pretty goals to thrash the Jaguars by a score of 10-3. Little did we know the tragedy that would befit our team the next time these two teams met, but that's another newsletter.

Oh, and we made the playoffs afterall. Next up the #67-led Zombies.