WEDNESDAYS #9 vs. JAGUARS:

(vol. 19S, no. 9; newsletter by c.g.)
The Pirates played the first playoff game in defense of their Sunday Championship this week. As it turns out, all six teams made the playoffs, and the No. 1-seeded Pirates lined-up against the No. 6-seeded Jaguars. The Jaguars were a little bit different than the first time we played them, as they sported a few new faces just in time for their playoff appearance.

The Pirates defense was once again manned by a three-man rotation of Keith, Scooby and Mike. This allowed Russ to move forward and take the spot of injured center John Cassens. (editor's note: Wildman was injured while playing in an “unsanctioned” Friday night league game. Because he is being charged with “jeopardizing the Pirates playoff run,” the SOC is hearing the case against him and will be deciding on an appropriate fine.) Russ was also joined on offense by Scott LeMatty, Glenn Farkas, #19, Tim Hand and last season's Conn Smythe winner Dan DiPierro.

Russ got the scoring going early on after he received a great breakout pass from Mike that sent him in alone for a breakaway; as you would expect, Russ easily beat the goalie high to the stickside and the Pirates were off and running. The defense was playing well and Harris (as usual) was on his game. Glenn Farkas would get the second goal of the period when he scooped-up a puck that #19 had carried into the zone, but then lost to some heavy pressure; Glenn wasted no time and fired a quick snapshot to beat the goalie for the 2-0 lead. The Jaguars were not out of it yet however, and battled back to narrow the lead to 2-1. Harris made a great save before the period was over on a shorthanded breakaway attempt by the Jags best skater; if not for that save, the game could have easily gone into the intermission tied.

As the 2nd half began, Glenn Farkas applied strong forechecking pressure and forced a Jaguar player to throw an errant pass through the middle in their own end; #19 was there to cutoff the passing lane and intercepted the puck, and then one-timed it into the net for the 3-1 lead. Just a few seconds later, Mike Farrell went on an end-to-end rush and — before the Jags even knew what hit them — it was 4-1. Ralz, atoning for his earlier penalty, got on the scoresheet with a nice goal off a feed from Farkas to give the Pirates a four-goal buffer. The Jags would add one more score before the end, but it was too late for any dramatics. As usual the Pirate defense was stingy and Harris didn't let anything easy get by him. The only downer of the evening was once-again losing Russ to injury (his hamstrings reared their ugly head again, leaving him to limp off the rink in the 2nd half). Now the Pirates get a bye week before heading back into the Finals against the winner of the Rink Rats-Wave Semifinal game.