Week of September 14, (Game 1) – Once again, Blame the Girl started out strong, making a strong push and throwing a lot of shots on net in the first period, in defeating White Lightning by a score of 3 – 1. This game was a lot closer than the score indicated as Blame the Girl scored late in the game to put this game away.
John Leite scored his first goal of the new season as he was set up out front by Mike Hollingsworth with just over a minute to play in the first period. Blame the Girl made a big push in the first period, outshooting White Lightning 14 to 8. Early in the second period, only a minute in, White Lightning evened the score at one when Pat Pirone set up shop near the crease and scored out front as he was set up by Tony Bono and Dave Curcio. With time winding down in the period and Blame the Girl still attacking and pressing the defense, Tony Medeiros scored with eight seconds left in the period, as he was set up on the wing by John Leite and Dominic Defrancisco. For Blame the Girl, this would be the killer goal.
Still in a close game, White Lightning started to gain the momentum and was pressing to score the game tying goal, even without two of their top forwards not at this game. However, rookie Scott Ponte ended any hopes of a comeback when he was set up out front by Carlos Machado with six minutes to play to essentially put this game away and keep Blame the Girl undefeated and in first place overall. For White Lightning, they have been in both games and competed but have come up just short.
Interestingly, with John Leite and Chris Ponte each scoring a goal, every member of the Portuguese Gang in the Over-30 league, including Tony Medeiros, Dominic Defrancisco and George Medeiros, has now scored a goal this season and reinforcing how the Portuguese Gang members will be a force to be recognized in the league this year. That is everyone except poor Sergio Costa of the Shooting Stars who is still putting up goose eggs on the score sheet. Rumor has it that Sergio soon will be kicked out of the gang for non-performance and not providing his weekly share of points in filling up the coffers of the Portuguese Gang’s stats account.
Week of September 14, (Game 2) – In a game of momentum swings, and goals scored in bunches, the Golden Oldies opened up their Over-30 season by tying the Shooting Stars 5 – 5 in overtime. In the process, the Golden Oldies built up a 4 – 1 lead only to watch the Shooting Stars come storming back scoring four goals in the third period.
In the first period, only a minute into the game, John Mastrocola was set up for a goal in the high slot on the hustle of Jim Barber. Five minutes later, Mike Luise was set up out front by Anthony Lauletta and John Kelleher to tie this game at 1 – 1. In the second period, the combination of Anthony Lauletta and Joe Mancinelli proved too much for the Shooting Stars to handle or counter as they each scored a goal and set each other up to help their Golden Oldies team pad their lead to 3 – 1.
In a wild third period, a combined five goals were scored by both teams and for a while there goals were scored a minute apart. A minute and a half in, Anthony Lauletta scored his second goal of the game as he was set up by Mike Luise and John Kellher, giving his team a seemingly insurmountable four goal lead. Game over right? Wrong! Soon the comeback was on as Umberto Baldassarre scored from the point only forty seconds later, then a minute later, John Desmond scored an unassisted goal to make this very quickly into a one goal game. However, only twenty-seven seconds later, Anthony Lauletta completed his hat trick as he scored off the wing set up by John Kelleher’s third assist. Seemingly in command of the game from that point on, the clock wound down to under a minute to play when John Desmond worked the ball down low and back to the point to Mike Delorey who fed across the point to Ray Dow, whose bomb beat the goalie. With time running down and the ball in deep in their own defensive zone, Ray Dow made the only play available to him and passed from the corner up to the right wing to Jamie Kehoe whose slap shot just over the blue line eluded the goalie with only seven seconds to play in the game, tying this game up. Even though the Shooting Stars pressed the pace in overtime, outshooting the Golden Oldies 5 to 1, the game ended up tied. A point gained for the Golden Oldies but a missed opportunity given up along the way for a win.