Playing the winless Storm for the third time this season, the Squirrels had every reason to believe that they would easily win again Thursday, but the game remained scoreless for the first 7:30. Then Jeff Ford — one of the top goal scorers in the league — took over, netting three in a row while leading the Squirrels to an 8-0 romp.
After Ford’s natural hat trick, Ben Sumner scored two in a row, both assisted by Ed Bager, and the Squirrels had a 5-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, Ford scored two more, forcing a running clock with 13:30 remaining in the game. Chris Long got the final goal with about six minutes remaining.
Aside from the scoring, the game featured five misconducts, two on the Squirrels and three on Storm.
Bob Sewell made 10 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Squirrels posted 23 shots on net. Don Marks, Matt Borlik, Juan Canchasto, Kit Watson and Tony Richelsen missed the game for the Squirrels.
The next game is Wednesday, June 21, at 8:30 p.m. against the Chupacabras, the team the Squirrels beat in the championship game last season.