SUNDAYS #1 vs. BULLDOGS:

(vol. 20S, no. 1; newsletter by k.r.)
The Pirates opened the new Sunday season by trying to defeat a group of Bulldogs with some help from a Zebra. Referee John Minerva started the game by changing his stripes and helping to fill-out a short Pirate bench; after a strong period manning the blueline, he then changed back to his referee role midway through the game. The strangeness didn't stop there though, as the newly “retired” Wildman also was subbing — for himself. Wildman will be back full-time next season, but has decided to take some time off to write a book explaining some of the newsletters that he has written.

The evening's scoring began when Glenn Farkas tallied an unassisted goal from the right side; his effort was so top notch that it's tempting to give Glenn his own assist on that goal, as he passed to himself through a bewildered Bulldog en route to the net. Although the game was competitive, a few errors early on proved costly and the Pirates then surrendered four unanswered goals. Russ got things going again for the Pirates when he netted his first of the evening and the Bulldogs were only able to take a two-goal lead into the break.

The Pirates continued to close the gap in the 2nd half when Russ scored again — this time a perfect roof job over the keeper's left shoulder. Drawing to within just one goal, the Pirates kept the pressure on but were unable to tie things up. Ralz had a great opportunity that banged off the crossbar and some great backchecking by Scott LeMatty, Chris and Dan kept the shortened bench of the Bulldogs busy. All-in-all, a loss but not a bad outing against an “A” team.