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Colonel's Shrimp Ring pain

The Colonel just wanted to ease the pain in his head from the previous night's excesses. Instead he suffered a world of hurt, losing his first start in net of the season, 20-9.

His judgement perhaps clouded from alcohol, the irascible veteran may have been hoping to savor the shrimp and tangy cocktail sauce behind the reliable two-way play of Lak Attack and the dependable defense of Beetle Boy. An early 2-1 lead and a scintillating glove save as he reached across the crease to rob the Living Legend's one-timer to the top corner seemed to bode well.

"After that first save, I thought, 'O crap, he's a natural,'" said Velma, who set up the Legend on the play with a pinpoint pass across the crease.

"Your role is to keep the game as close as possible so you give your team a chance to win the game," said the Colonel of his early success. "We're out here to win."

But his optimism was ill-fated as the young speedsters Velma and Doo proved too much for the flat-footed veterans like Beetle Boy and Nibs, who quickly succumbed to the demands of a game without substitutions.

"Fitness was a huge factor," said Beetle Boy, playing his first game in more than a month. "Their team had a couple of young guys and then you have us, who haven't done anything for a while. It just killed us."

Those young guys ruled the boards at both ends of the court, beating wearying defenders to the ball time and again then feeding their veteran linemate, the Living Legend, who nonchalantly cruised the center of the court. He scored four goals, three of them on deflections of shots from the perimeter.

"They were able to get in behind our defense," said the Colonel. "They were passing real well and they got quite a few tip-ins."

"The tips were all working," said Velma. "Our team had great chemistry."

Ten straight goals all but ensured an easy victory. The only thing to be decided was whether they could preserve the road hockey shutout for Twizzler.

"It's important to stay focused," said Velma, as his team faltered slightly late in the game before getting their goalie the goose egg. "He's played well all season and it was nice to give him a bit of a reward."

Posted by jaysuburb at January 3, 2010 04:09 PM