Hattrick - Purple Pirates FC Season 20

[larrymcg421]

First off, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who followed our first season.

Last Season in Review

We took over for Indiana in week 7. At this point, we were stuck in last place with only 1 pt. and 2 goals. Our first two matches were against #1 kpuck. playing standard 4-4-2 alignments, we lost 2-0 and 3-0. After successfully trying the 3-5-2 in a friendly for an 8-2 victory, we used it in a league match against real and won 4-1. Our next match was against #2 Oh Buddha and we took them to the wire, barely losing 2-1. We actually controlled midfield and nearly tied it on a penalty kick. Things looked bleak for the Pirates at this point in the season. We needed a victory over #5 Lockwood United to have a shot at avoiding auto demotion. After falling behind 3-1, we scored three unanswered goals for a huge 4-3 victory. We followed this up with a 4-0 win over Montg. United. Although we lost 3-1 the following week to the #3 Wisconsin Legend, a loss by real clinched 6th place for the Pirates. A commanding 4-0 victory over Virginia Beach in the final week gave us momentum into our relegation match, which we
handily won 7-0.

Season 19 League Matches (NSI)

19.07 - kpuck 2, Purple Pirates 0 (39)
19.08 - kpuck 3, Purple Pirates 0 (35)
19.09 - Purple Pirates 4, real 1 (40)
19.10 - OhBuddha 2, Purple Pirates 1 (40)
19.11 - Purple Pirates 4, Lockwood United 3 (41)
19.12 - Purple Pirates 4, Montg. United 0 (43)
19.13 - Wisconsin Legend 3, Purple Pirates 1 (42)
19.14 - Purple Pirates 4, Virginia Beach Sun Kings 0 (46)
Relegation - Purple Pirates 7, Texas Babylonians 0 (47)

[larrymcg421]

Purple Pirates Depth Chart - Season 20

Of course, this is subject to change depending on form.

Starters

Forward: Hyman Baker (Passable, Weak)
Forward: Daryl Breeden (Passable, Weak)

Winger: Leland Olvera (Passable, Passable, Wretched, Inad)
Inner Midfielder: Preston Anderson (Solid, Weak, Inad)
Inner Midfielder: Felix Anaya (Passable, Inad, Inad)
Inner Midfielder: Steve Ayling (Passable, Inad, Weak)
Winger: Jordi Zalabardo (Passable, Weak, Poor, Weak)

Wingback: Michael Burbidge (Inad)
Central Defender: Donnie Gillett (Passable)
Wingback: Paul Mahon (Passable)

Keeper: Sui Woo-Sok (Inad)

Note: I play my wingbacks defensively, so I've only included the defending rating.

B-Squad

Forward: Tyree Sharp (Inad, Inad)

Winger: Brandon Turagabea (Inad, Inad, Poor, Inad)
Inner Midfielder: Rupert Biggs (Inad, Inad, Inad)
Inner Midfielder: Enrico Buendia (Passable, Poor, Poor)
Winger: Loren Elliott (Inad, Disastrous, Poor, Poor)

Wingback: James Whitehead (Inad)
Central Defender: Stuart Charles (Inad)
Central Defender: Clifton Robbins (Inad)
Central Defender: Oyvind Bergli (Passable)
Wingback: Tommy Joe Weeks (Inad)

Keeper: Sui Woo-Sok (Inad)

[larrymcg421]

V.16 Final League Standings

<pre><font face="courier" size=2>

Final Standings for V.16

1. kpuck 14 48 - 1 40

2. OhBuddha 14 51 - 8 34
3. Wisconsin Legend 14 51 - 14 33
4. Lockwood United 14 29 - 37 17

5. Virginia Beach Sun 14 20 - 37 17
6. Purple Pirates 14 20 - 32 13

7. réal 14 7 - 58 6
8. Montg. Utd 14 8 - 47 4
</pre></font>

real and Montg. United were replaced by bot teams who are now newly converted human teams. kpuck auto promoted and a walkover team took their place. They now have a human owner as well.

The four returnees are:

OhBuddha
Wisconsin Legend
Lockwood United
Virginia Beach

The three new teams are:

Compton's Fienst
Real Gastonia
tarasthong

Here is our (very favorable) schedule

20.01 - at Virginia Beach
20.02 - Compton's Finest
20.03 - Lockwood United
20.04 - at Real Gastonia
20.05 - OhBuddha
20.06 - at tarasthong
20.07 - Wisconsin Legend
20.08 - at Wisconsin Legend
20.09 - tarasthong
20.10 - OhBuddha
20.11 - Real Gastonia
20.12 - at Lockwod United
20.13 - at Compton's Finest
20.14 - Virginia Beach

The schedule comes out nicely as we get a chance to play a newer team the week before any veteran team, with the exception of Weeks 7 and 8 where we play Wisconsin. This will help me decide PIC/MOTS easier.My goal is to finish at least 3rd. Anything less will be considered a failure.

[larrymcg421]

It's the start of Season 20 for the Purple Pirates. Our first match is a road cup match at the Louisiana Pharoahs. They're a Division VI bot team, so not much to worry about. We're using our typical 3-5-2 formation with both wingbacks defensive. We also decided to PIC and will probably do the same for a few weeks.

Keeper: Sui Woo-Sok

Right Wingback (Defensive): Michael Burbidge
Central Defender: Donnie Gillett
Left Wingback (Defensive): Paul Mahon

Right Winger: Leland Olvera
Inner Midfielder: Preston Anderson
Inner Midfielder: Felix Anaya
Inner Midfielder: Steve Ayling
Left Winger: Jordi Zalabardo

Forward: Daryl Breeden
Forward: Hyman Baker

Set Pieces: Steve Ayling
Team Captain: Steve Ayling

6429 spectators had come to Louisiana Dome this cloudy day. Louisiana tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. They fielded: Estrada - Moore, Peck, Mcknight, Black - Winters, Mcintyre, Jacobsen, Blackwell - Spain, Reinhardt.

Pirates had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Woo-Sok - Burbidge, Gillett, Mahon - Olvera, Ayling, Anderson, Anaya, Zalabardo - Breeden, Baker.

Michael Burbidge received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 19:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. Pirates took the lead after 23 minutes with 0 - 1. Jordi Zalabardo placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. In the 26:th minute Louisianas John Peck received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The Pirates player was Leland Olvera who had to be helped off the pitch, unable to finish the game. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 28:th minute Pirates goal, making it 0 - 2. Felix Anaya was noted down as the scorer. Seth Moore of Louisiana received a yellow card in the 28:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 28:th minute Paul Mahon surprised the opponents with a 40 metre pass to Daryl Breeden who quite easily could settle the score to 0 - 3. The visitors Daryl Breeden took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 29:th minute. 0 - 4 for Pirates. By now Pirates were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. In the 30:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 5 as Hyman Baker finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. Halftime score was 0 - 5. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Pirates, with an impressive 64 percent possession of the ball.

The away team´s Preston Anderson took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 51st minute increasing Pirates´s lead to 0 - 6. Bern Spain challenged the visitors full backs eagerly, producing a good chance in the 62nd minute as he went for a through ball combination. But as so many times before, the guest´s defensive efforts got the best of it. Jared Mcintyre seemed highly inexperienced when in the 68:th minute he was loitering with the ball, allowing Preston Anderson to intercept and strike 0 - 7 for Pirates. Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 68:th minute Pirates goal, making it 0 - 8. Hyman Baker was noted down as the scorer. Pirates increased the lead to 0 - 9 as Steve Ayling scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. Pirates held the ball, with a clear 62 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Louisiana player was without a doubt Bern Spain. Gustavo Jacobsen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Pirates player was without a doubt Donnie Gillett. Brandon Turagabea on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 9.

Team Ratings

Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: passable
Right Side Attack: passable
Central Attack: solid
Left Side Attack: excellent

Individual Ratings

**1/2: Breeden, Baker, Anderson, Anaya, Zalabardo, Burbidge, Gillett, Mahon, Woo-Sok
**: Turagabea, Ayling

Comments: This was a very good match all around for us. Our ratings were higher than ever, and although it was partly due to the experience factor, we do seem to have caught up with the best teams in our series. Here are the NSI's in the last round:

OhBudda 52
Wisconsin Legend 50
Purple Pirates 50
Lockwood United 44
Virginia Beach 38
Compton's Finest 33
Real Gastonia 33
tarasthong 31

Our next match is on the road at Virginia Beach. We have started a fun rivalry through our press announcements, but this shouldn't be a tough match for us. We will continue to PIC until week 5 when we meet Oh Budda.

[larrymcg421]

Season 20 is here!

The Purple Pirates open their new season with a road match against Virginia Beach, the same team we knocked out of 4th place with a 4-0 shutout at the end of last year. Virginia Beach is not a very good team, and we've improved since then while they've stayed stagnate. We PIC'd them then, and will do so once again.

Virginia Beach runs an odd 4-3-3 with a winger set as an extra forward and an inner midfielder set towards the wing. We plan to take advantage of this by attacking up the middle with starting middie Steve Ayling set as a Winger towards the middle and Enrico Buendia getting the start this week as the 3rd midfielder.

Right Wingback (Defensive): Michael Burbidge
Central Defender: Donnie Gillett
Left Wingback (Defensive): Paul Mahon

Right Winger (Towards Middle): Steve Ayling
Inner Midfielder: Preston Anderson
Inner Midfielder: Felix Anaya
Inner Midfielder: Enrico Buendia
Left Winger (Offensive): Jordi Zalabardo

Forward: Daryl Breeden
Forward: Hyman Baker

Set Pieces: Steve Ayling
Captain: Steve Ayling

[larrymcg421]

Baker Backs Up His Words, But Needs Help.

Daryl Breeden's last second goal saved the day for the Pirates and Hyman Baker. Baker had alot to say the past two weeks, and he wasn't shy about it. After scoring a hat trick in the relegation match against the Texas Babylonians, he proclaimed the Pirates as the team to beat in V.16 and said the Virginia Beach Sun Kings did not stand a chance against his team.

Virginia Beach took offense to this, and dubbed the the season opener against the Pirates as Hyman Baker Day. They jokingly handed out pictures of Baker in crosshairs to the first 4,000 fans. This was inspired by Sun Kings captain Joe Grimm's crack that Baker would be "a marked man" in the season opener.

Baker didn't back down, and jokingly said that the Sun Kings might have a chance if they lined up those 4,000 fans in front of the net. He noted that it was odd for Virginia Beach to be so confident after losing to the Pirates 4-0 in the final week of last season. This war of words set the stage for what proved to be an exciting contest.

The game was quiet in the early going although the Pirates were dominating possession. They were obviously trying to get the ball to Baker to help him back up his words, but the Sun Kings defense hounded him all day long. Meannwhile, Pirates forward Daryl Breeden was hardly getting any looks at all.

While the Pirates were having problems getting Baker a shot at the goal, they were successful using him as a decoy. 31 minutes in, Hyman Baker looked like he found room on the left side of the field. It looked like Midfielder Preston Anderson was going to send it his way, as he had done all game long. The Sun Kings defense Went after Baker to prevent him from getting a good shot. However, Anderson showed some nice footwork and instead of fliping the ball to Baker, he tipped it the other direction to Jordi Zalabardo, who had left his winger position and went straight up the middle to nail an easy one on one shot against the Sun Kings keeper.

Afetr coming out in the 2nd half with a 1-0 lead, the Pirates made a fatal blunder when defender Paul Mahon sent a weak pass to the midfield and it was intercepted by Forward Stephen Davidson who put it past Sui Woo-Sok for a 1-1 score. Pirates coach Willy huntley could be seen fuming on the sidelines.

Although the Sun Kings continued hounding Baker, and they had two cards to show for it, he did manage to finally get open in the 68th minute and dashed through the middle to put the Pirates back on top 2-1. This deflated the raucous Sun Kings crowd, who did turn out in droves for Hyman Baker day.

The Sun Kings did not give up, and the crowd got back into it as Virginia Beach started to apply some pressure and the Pirates lost their possession edge. With 8 minutes left in the match, Sun Kings winger Kenny Willard sent a ball into the box. Pirates defender Donnie Gillett tried to block it but it was too late, as Forward Jacques Avrand-Margot knocked the ball in to even the score once again.

The Sun Kings crowd was now on it's feet, edging its team on. The Pirates composed themselves and began to retake the possession advantage. Virginia Beach was so focused on Hyman Baker that they failed to pay attention to Pirates Forward Daryl Breeden, who had scored two goals on them three weeks ago. In the 87th minute, Breeden received a pass and found a surprisingly easy opening up the middle for the winning goal.

After the match, Pirates coach Willy Huntley noted that all three Pirates goals were up the middle. "Since Virginia Beach technically only played one midfielder, we figured we could have some good chances through their weak middle. The match was closer than we would've liked, but I'm glad the strategy paid off." When asked about the Baker situation, Huntley said, "Hyman is a competitor and if he says something, he will do whatever it takes to back that up."

As for Baker himself, he gave credit to the Sun Kings for performing better than expected. "They did a good job defensively on me for the most part. I expected us to win big, and I still think we have the talent to do that, but we'll have to play better than we did this week."

The Pirates next match will be at Silver Spring in round 2 of the US Open Cup. This should be another relatively easy match for the Pirates, but as we foudn out this week, nothing is for certain.

Other V.16 Matches:

Oh Buddha 4, Compton's Finest 0

Oh Buddha was last year's runner up for the series title and they picked up where they left off by completely outclassing one of the newest members to the series. They dominated possession with 72% in the first half and 84% int he 2nd half, and Forward Andy Begay found the net twice.

Wisconsin Legend 1, Lockwood United 1

In the most surprising result of the week, Lockwood was able to forge a 1-1 tie with Wisconsin, last year's #3 team. Lockwood had finished #4 but the gap between 3rd and 4th was pretty wide. Despite putting up their usual strong defensive showing, Wisconin's anemic offense couldn't manage a single goal in the 2nd half.

tarasthong 1, Real Gastonia 1

Two former Division VI teams faced off for their first match in Division V and it was not a pretty sight. The weather was awful, with heavy rain all day long. The match itself was pretty dull until tarasthong Forward Loren Yeager scored from long range and put his team up 1-0. Just a few minutes later, Real Gastonia tied it up on an easy goal through the middle. With 9 minutes to go, tarasthong had to play one man short, but they were able to hang on for the tie.

[larrymcg421]

I tried something new with the match report this week, and I hope you guys found it more interesting than the usual cut/paste.

Anyways, here were my ratings for the match

Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: excellent
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: passable
Right Side Attack: weak
Central Attack: solid
Left Side Attack: excellent

**1/2: Breeden, Baker, Anderson, Anaya, Zalabardo, Gillett, Woo-Sok
**: Ayling, Burbidge, Buendia, Mahon

I was too confident this week and almost paid for it. I was so sure that we'd win even with the PIC, but they kept it close and I paid the price for having an unpredictable defender. I'm still confident about our chances in V.16 this season. Here were the NSI's for this week's matches.

OhBuddha 51
Wisconsin Legend 50
Purple Pirates 49
Lockwood United 45
Virginia Beach Sun Kings 37
Real Gastonia 37
Compton's Finest 33
tarasthong 30

[larrymcg421]

Thanks to the upset draw for the Wisconsin Legend, Pirates are in 2nd place after Week 1!


Team Played Goals Points
1. OhBuddha 1 4 - 0 3

2. Purple Pirates 1 3 - 2 3
3. Real Gastonia 1 1 - 1 1
4. Wisconsin Legend 1 1 - 1 1

5. tarasthong 1 1 - 1 1
6. Lockwood United 1 1 - 1 1

7. Virginia Beach Sun 1 2 - 3 0
8. Compton's Finest 1 0 - 4 0

[larrymcg421]

US Open Cup Round 2

Purple Pirates at Silver Spring

For the 2nd round of the US Open Cup, we face off against a human owned Division VI team. They're not horrible, but we shouldnt have a problem. I PIC and play my 5-4-1 training formation. Just in case this is a close match due to my defensive formation, I play my three best set pieces players. Middies Enrico Buendia and Steve Ayling are both rated excellent and Forward Tyree Sharp is rated solid.

Keeper: Sui Woo-Sok

Right Wingback: Donny Ortiz
Central Defender: Oyvind Bergli
Central Defender (Offensive): Clifton Robbins
Central Defender: Stuart Charles
Left Wingback (Defensive): Tommy Joe Weeks

Right Winger (Offensive): Steve Ayling
Inner Midfielder: Enrico Buendia
Inner Midfielder: Felix Anaya
Left Winger (Offensive): Jordi Zalabardo

Forward: Tyree Sharp

[larrymcg421]

Woo-Sok is brilliant as Pirates Advance

At halftime of Sunday's opening league match, Pirates keeper Sui Woo-Sok was presented with an award for bering last season's team MVP. He then proceeded to give up 2 goals in the 2nd half and the Pirates nearly had to settle for a tie. This led some fans to wonder if Woo-Sok was jinxed or if he really deserved the award. Woo-Sok answered his critics by shutting down Silver Spring to help the Pirates to a 2-0 victory in round 2 of the US Open Cup.

The Pirates, playing a defensive 5-4-1 formation, needed to get on the board early as it would be hard to come fro0m behind with only one forward. Thankfully, with 7 minutes in Tyree Sharp found an opening on the left side of the field and nailed a perfect shot at the far post to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates played rough in trying to hold the lead, resulting in yellow cards for both Winger Steve Ayling and Defender Oyvind Bergli. In the 15th minute, Sharp had another scoring opportunity but got a little excited and lost his footing.

Pirates missed another scoring opportunity before the half when Enrico Buendia's fired a cannon from long range that hit the side of the post. Like Sunday, Pirates only took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. Last week, they gave up an early scoring chance in the 2nd half and had to rally to avoid a draw. Woo-Sok would not let that happen this time.

Defender Clifton Robbins made some poor decisions in the 2nd half that gave Silver Spring several scoring opportunities. With only a 1-0 lead, Sui Woo-Sok was able to stop all of them and preserve the lead. The match was basically over when Enrico Buendia made the best of his second scoring opportunity and put away a shot from the right for a 2-0 lead. Silver Spring could not generate any more scoring opportunities and the Pirates walked away with the 2-0 win.

Woo-Sok received praise from his teammates. "Sui is the man!" said Forward Tyree Sharp. "Peiople get down on him for last week, but we still won, didn't we? He proved that he's a great goalie. People should not doubt him."

"He came through when we needed him", added Team Captain Steve Ayling. "MVP Awards are meaningless. What matters are victories and Sui led us to victory today."

The Pirates have now advanced to round 3 of the US Open Cup where they will play a home match against the Shin Kickers, a Division IV team. There should be a packed house rooting the Pirates on for an upset.

[larrymcg421]

Team Rating

Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: excellent
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: poor
Left Side Attack: passable
NSI: 44

Individual Rating

**1/2: Ayling, Anaya, Zalabardo, Woo-Sok
**: Charles, Buendia, Ortiz, Bergli, Weeks
*1/2: Sharp, Robbins

Comments: This was a nice win for us and gives us at least one home cup match, which should help out our financial situation (see next post). Next week I have an easy league match and a tough cup match. I'm not sure what strategy/formations I'll be using yet, but I do know that I'll PIC both.

[Havok]

i like the game summary idea your doing here.

Nice change of pace :)

[larrymcg421]

Club Finances Have Taken a Dive

Purple Pirates owner Larry McGillicuddy reported a $44,193 loss last week for the club. McGillicuddy said that brings the total deficit to over $280,000. Despite some outstanding improvement on the field, the club has been losing money for the past two months. After selling midfielder Louie hoffman, the Pirates seemed to be in better shape but a series of staff hires and roster moves have plunged the Pirates back into debt.

"We've made some mistakes financially," McGillicuddy said. "However, the improved performance on the field is something for us to be proud of. We are confident that it will lead to an improved financial situation in the long run."

McGillicuddy denied rumors that the Pirates are planning to sell star midfielder Preston Anderson to help them out of debt. Rumors have been circulating especially with the improved play of midfielders Felix Anaya and Enrico Buendia. Pirates forward Hyman Baker said such rumors were nonsense. "If they get rid of Preston, they might as well get rid of me," Baker said.

[larrymcg421]

Oh Buddha Replaced!

Series V.16 was given a shock today when they learned that Oh Buddha, the #1 team in the series and the favorite to win the title, closed up it's operation and was replaced by a new club in the Moore Lions. There is no word why this sudden event took place, but most analysts assume the club simply ran out of money.

This considerably weakens the series and makes it a three way race between the Pirates, Wisconsin Legend, and Lockwood United. The Moore Lions will inherit the series lead from Oh Buddha, but with little time to prepare it will be hard for them to hold on to that position.

[larrymcg421]

Thanks Havok. I'm gonna try to use this format for reporting other things as well. I'll still post lineups so people can see my strategy from match to match.

Speaking of that, here we go...

20.02 - Compton's Finest at Purple Pirates

The news of Oh Buddha being replaced does not change our strategy this week. It helps with future weeks, as it allows us to PIC all the way to week 9. This week, we continue to PIC and hope for better results than our near draw to an inferior team last week. We will play our standard 3-5-2 with defensive wingbacks and offensive wingers. I've thrown in a couple B-teamers so we can use starters in the cup match.

Keeper: Sui Woo-Sok

Right Wingback (Defensive): Tommy Joe Weeks
Central Defender: Oyvind Bergli
Left Wingback (Defensive): Stuart Charles

Right Winger (Offensive): Jordi Zalabardo
Inner Midfielder: Preston Anderson
Inner Midfielder: Felix Anaya
Inner Midfielder: Steve Ayling
Left Winger (Offensive): Leland Olvera

Forward: Daryl Breeden
Forward: Hyman Baker

Set Pieces: Steve Ayling
Team Captain: Steve Ayling

[larrymcg421]

Pirates Run Compton's Finest Out of Town

After last week's thrilling 3-2 win over Virginia Beach, and Wednesday night's tight 2-0 victory in the Cup, the Pirates were looking for a more relaxing match this Sunday. They got that and then some.

Conmpton's Finest was clearly outmatched from the get go. The midfielders could not hold on to the ball and Pirates Forwards Daryl Breeden and Hyman Baker were running by defenders all game long.

Breeden got the scoring started early with an easy goal in between Compton's central defenders. Breeden already had his 2nd goal with 12 minutes in by hitting a brilliant long range shot that Compton's goalie Donnie Alicea didn't have aprayer of stopping.

Baker decided to join in on the fun too. Just a few minutes later, midfielder Felix Anaya flipped a brilliant pass to a wide open Baker who easily challenged Alicea for a 3-0 Pirates lead. Baker scored a 2nd time when he ran right by Compton's central defense line and received another Anaya pass for a 4-0 lead.

Despite a blunder in the 31st minute by the usually composed Preston Anderson, The Pirates were having no problems with Compton's Finest. They kept pouring it on as Winger Leland Olvera teamed up with Breeden for his 3rd goal of the game. This was Breeden's first career hattrick. Pirates added another goal late in the first half as Olvera and Breeden teamed up once again, this time leaving Olvera all alone for the easy goal.

With a 6-0 halftime lead, Pirates coach Willy Huntley ordered the team to play defensively int he 2nd half. Even in defensive formations, the PIrates managed two more goals, one from Winger and Team Captain Steve Ayling on a penalty kick and another for Midfielder Preston Anderson on an attack from the right. The whistle blew on an 8-0 final score.

The Pirates players and coach were very pleased with the performance.

"This is how we should've played last week", Forward Hyman Baker said. "We knew Compton's Finest did not rise to our level of talent, so all we needed to do is play as well as we are capable. We were able to do that today."

Pirates Coach Willy Huntley noted the recent departure of Oh Buddha from V.16. "With Oh Buddha now out of the picture, we have a serious shot at winning the series title. That should be our main priority for the rest of the season."

Pirates next match will be in round 3 of the US Open Cup against the Division IV Shin Kickers. Pirates are not favored to win the game, but hope that a strong turnout at Pirates arena can cheer them on to victory.

[larrymcg421]

Team Rating

Midfield: weak
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: passable
Left Side Defence: passable
Right Side Attack: solid
Central Attack: solid
Left Side Attack: excellent

Individual Rating

**1/2: Breeden, Baker, Zalabardo, Anderson, Anaya, Olvera, Weeks, Woo-Sok
**: Ayling, Charles
*1/2: Bergli

Comments: This was a great victory for us as we topped our best NSI by more than three points and were 4 points better than any other team in our series. Things are looking good for the Pirates these days. Next week's match against Lockwood United will go a long way towards seeing if we can win the series.