Squirrels 5, 2intheBox 1

In their first game of the season, the Squirrels put on a spectacular show, dominating 2intheBox throughout most of the game even before they scored four third period goals for a 5-1 win Thursday.

Granted, 2intheBox only had eight skaters and were missing some of their snipers, but the Squirrels only had nine and also were missing many strong skaters. Regardless, the Squirrels dominated throughout much of the game, though they went down 1-0 in the first period.

The Squirrels finally got on the board during a second period power play, after a series of perfect passes, as Nate Groves netted his first of a natural hat trick.

Early in the third period, Groves had two more, including a snipe from the right wing and a feed from new Squirrel Cassie Campbell out front. Geoff Grek scored later to put the Squirrels up 4-1, and Campbell scored her first as a Squirrel later, to go along with her two assists on two of Groves’s goals. Rylan Gottran had two assists for the Squirrels.

The Squirrels were credited with 51 shots on net, as Dave Tran made 17 of 18 saves in net. Brian Cox also played his first game as a Squirrel on defense.