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Colonel's atonement falls just short

Two weeks ago in his first goaltending start of the season, the Colonel was still wobbly from his Saturday night excesses. The result wasn't pretty, a humbling 20-9 defeat.

Sunday, the irascible veteran was sober. But the result was the same, a sobering 15-9 loss to an undermanned opposition.

With the league going through its usual mid-season attendance woes, the Colonel stepped into the goaltending breach for the second time in three weeks, eager to atone for his Shrimp Ring shame.

"I definitely wanted to play again," said the Colonel. "I didn't want to not play again after such a crap game a couple of weeks ago."

With his senses sharp and his reflexes sharper, the Colonel made a number of key saves early in Sunday's game, keeping his team close against a powerhouse squad led by the dynamic offensive duo of Kid and Lak Attack.

No save was bigger than his stonewalling of the shifty Kid on a penalty shot, awarded when a disputed goal call couldn't be resolved. As the speed forward veered to his backhand, the Colonel sprawled to his left, stabbing his stick at the oncoming speedster. Kid lifted the evil orange plastic ball, chipping it off the keeper's flailing stick and ringing it off the crossbar.

"That's something I'm going to look back on in the stats book as an incredible save, but the truth is he missed it on his own," said the Colonel of the play. "He hit the crossbar, I just kinda had the stick there."

Perhaps. But the play boosted energized his team, who charged up the court with renewed determination to erase the deficit they had dug themselves by failing to convert too many scoring opportunities.

"We definitely had our rushes," said Scrappy, who played his first game in a month. "We were pretty even in chances but it just comes down to who can bury them."

Time and again, Twizzler was equal to the task as the sophomore shotstopper stood tall against the young speedster and his fleet-footed linemate, Doo.

"They had young legs so we knew they were gonna come at us," said Lak Attack. "The game plan was to keep them outside on the perimeter, keep them from getting their shots and let the goalie take care of the angles."

Despite the loss, the Colonel was buoyed by his effort.

"The most important thing about playing goaltender is just taking care of your own end," said the creaseminding convert. "You've just got to play to the absolute best of your ability on every play and you never give up on the ball."

That's got to be worrisome for opponents and encouraging for future teammates.

"He played a great game," said Lak Attack of his longtime nemesis. "He played well positionally and he showed us some really quick reflexes. He kept them in the game, definitely."

"He got us through some rough patches when they just had all the momentum," said Scrappy.

Posted by jaysuburb at January 17, 2010 09:17 PM