Week of October 15 (Game 1) – After four straight losses, and continuing to play short-handed, the eight players present for this game made a team commitment to play for thirty minutes and put an end to their losing streak. That commitment paid off as 11 Guys, 1 Ball scored five straight goals to romp over the Pylons by a 5 – 1 score. The loss was the third in a row for the Pylons.
Things started out well for the Pylons as Anthony Lauletta scored the game’s first goal, set up on the wing by Tony Mastrocola, five minutes into the period. For Anthony, it was his second game that he has scored a goal. The score could have been even more except for the stellar play of goalie Scott Rosato for 11 Guys, 1 Ball.
At the start of the second period, 11 Guys, 1 Ball made a heads up roster shift and moved Carlos Machado back to defense while Tony Medeiros stopped filling in on defense and moved back up front full time. That move paid off immediately as Tony was set up in front by Shawn Wyatt only twelve seconds into the period. Two minutes later saw the Portuguese trio have an impact as John Leite scored, set up by Tony and Dominic Defrancisco on a power play. With just under three minutes left in the period, Tony struck again giving his team some much needed insurance, as he was set up by John and Brien Sullivan. The play of 11 Guys, 1 Ball dramatically increased in the second period as they took control and momentum of this game.
In the third period, 11 guys, 1 Ball didn’t let up their foot on the gas pedal as a minute and a half in Tony struck again unassisted to complete his hat trick. Just over three minutes later, it was Shawn Wyatt scoring his second goal in as many games, as Tony returned the favor from earlier and set him up out front. Scott may have shut that door in net, but, it was Tony re-asserting himself as the self-proclaimed Portuguese Power of the Over-30 league……………with this performance no one could argue differently.
Week of October 15 (Game 2) – In the season’s first defining moment of a much anticipated match-up of contending teams, proved more of a one-sided affair as Yellow Submarine played a complete thirty minute team game in asserting themselves as the league’s best team, with a 5 – 1 thrashing over Shark Attack.
In a back and forth first period that saw both team’s defense control the play, Yellow Submarine had a slight edge in offense which paid off with thirty seconds left in the period, as Walter Maslak struck first as he was set up by the hustle of Dez and Brian Kehoe.
Early into the second period, Yellow Submarine increased its lead as John Carey scored from the point, set up by Matty Iannello and Umberto Biancardi. Needing something to turn their game and fortunes around, Shark Attack took advantage of a brother combination that saw John Colucciello score on a bomb from the point off a pass from brother Mauro, five minutes into the period. Game on! The next four and a half minutes saw Shark Attack pick up the intensity and carry the play to Yellow Submarine, pressing for the tying goal. However, this game changed dramatically with less than ten seconds to play as John Colucciello gathered in the rebound and took the ball behind the net. Rather than kill off the clock, Cooch made a bad decision to carry the ball up the right side in his defensive zone, only to lose the ball to Jason Carrien pinching in who alertly passed to Matty in the high slot who passed up a sure shot as time wound down to smartly find a wide open Ray Nickerson all alone at the side of the net for a goal. There was only one second left in the period when ray scored. Ouch! Shark Attack would never recover from this defensive blunder!
The third period saw Brian Kehoe score at the five minute mark, set up by Ray, followed by John Carey scoring a great top corner shot moving in off the point, set up by Walter and Brian. The moral of this game? Eat the damn ball Cooch!!
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