(vol.
20S, no. 10; newsletter by c.g.)
The Coastal Pirates had a chance at a “first” this past weekend when they
had the opportunity to win three Championships in a row. Unfortunately
this milestone will remain unreached as the Pirates lost 4-2 against the
Rink Rats.
The Pirates were minus Captain Russ Nicolosi, but Mike Farrell
(who qualified for playoff action by subbing four times during the regular season) added to an already-strong
defense, and allowed Scooby to move forward for the
evening. The defensive units consisted of Farrell-Richardson and McLaughlin-Currao, while up front were Ralz-DiPierro-Farkas and #19-LeMatty-Scooby.
These teams had met once during the regular season and the result was a 2-2 tie. The Rink Rats had gone on to win the Western division and claim the no. 1 seed, while the Pirates took the no. 2 spot. The Rats effectively had a first-round playoff bye when the no. 4-seed couldn't field a team in their Semifinals game, while the Pirates edged the Bruins after a shootout to advance to this Finals.
For a Championship, this had little of that do-or-die emotion to it. Neither
team played particularly well, and both just seemed to be hanging around
waiting for the other to do something; it was not a poorly played game,
but it seemed to lack urgency from both sides. The Pirates Rats' goalie
Doug Collimore, injured a couple of weeks back while subbing for the Pirates,
suited-up and played the first 3:00 minutes, but was relieved soon after
by Casey LeCompte. The Rats scored first off a multiple rebound in front
to take the 1-0 lead (#67, who was credited for that Rink Rats' goal because
he had the last “touch,” admitted this bounced off his leg before
entering the Pirate net). After surviving a powerplay later in the period,
the Pirates were finally able to answer back when Kevin beat Casey five-hole
with a quick shot from outside of the circle. At the buzzer the two teams
remained tied 1-1 and the final 22:00 minutes would decide the Champion.
In the
final period the Rats again reclaimed the lead and it with 6:00 minutes to play it looked as though they would be able to hold it. That's when once-again
Kevin moved up ice and fired a blast that curled into the net (Casey said after the game he never saw a puck curve like that before). With the score tied 2-2 it was anyone's game. For a moment it seemed the ThreePeat was within reach when Kevin at the 3:00-minute mark blasted another long shot and the rebound went to Farkas alone in front — but there would be no storybook ending this time, as Casey made the save and the game remained tied. Then with just under 1:48
minutes to go, the Rats regained the lead again when Rob Armswood shot one
past Harris from just inside the blueline. The Rats would go on to ice
a meaningless emptynetter and the Pirates made a final press with the extra skater, but the ThreePeat was out of reach. Congratulations to the
Rink Rats for breaking the streak ... we'll need to start a new streak
next season.
In their first Title appearance of 2005, the Pirates settled for the second-place Cup (above). With just 1:48 on the clock in the final period, hopes of a ThreePeat were still much alive.
