SUNDAYS #8 vs. JAGUARS:

(vol. 18S, no. 8; newsletter by c.g.)
The Sunday Pirates lined-up against the Jaguars in the second to last game of the regular season. As you may recall, the Pirates were coming off their first win of the Summer after barely beating a goalie-less Bulldogs team the previous week. The Jaguars showed up with a goalie so that was a plus (I guess) and this game would come down to a few lucky bounces, and rebound goals — unfortunately, the Jaguars were the ones getting the lucky bounces and goals off the rebounds. Their first three goals, in fact, were all second shots as juicy rebound after juicy rebound found its way onto the Jaguar sticks; more amazingly, all those first three rebounds came off the same player's stick in the 1st period, making for what surely must be one of the quickest hat tricks in league history. Luckily the line of Russ-LeMatty-DiPierro were keeping the Pirates in the game as Dan scored the first, LeMatty the second, and Russ the third goals to keep the team in contention.

Dan played a strong game that began in the opening shift when he redirected a perfect LeMatty pass for his goal; Dan would also later feed Russ a perfect pass out of the corner for Russ' first tally in his return from being scratched due to injury. Dan, Scott and Russ each ended-up with two points on the night as they traded-off assists on each other's goals.

And what of the other forward line? #19-Ralz-Farkas were busy too, as they were on the ice for all four of the goals against. In fact, that line would only get a measure of revenge in the final 1:10 minutes of the 3rd period; With the extra skater on, Farkas buried the game-tying goal. Truth be told, the Pirates played well this night. The defense was stingy and though the team gave up four goals, the Pirates still dominated play. The Jaguar goalie made some huge saves as well as his posts (a Kevin slapshot in the 3rd period banged off three posts — on the same shot). While it only ended in a tie, it was a step in the right direction, and it was nice to go to the post-game “meeting” riding a two-game undefeated streak.  

(editor's note: in an unrelated event, John “Wildman” Cassens became the first reader featured on the Asbury Park Press' new SundayBeat page. Wildman wrote a “fan rant” that can be downloaded full-size by clicking on the image below)