Author Archive: Ben Sumner

D.C. Fire 7, Squirrels 5

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The Squirrels gave up an uncharacteristic seven goals Thursday as the D.C. Fire came away with a 7-5 victory after six lead-changes.

The Squirrels got the scoring started in the first period as Ben Sumner centered to Brent Machado, who roofed a shot to give the Squirrels the lead. The Fire scored the next two goals, the second of which came on a power play.

In the second period, Tony Richelsen – playing defense – made several nifty moves into the zone but his shot sailed wide. The puck eventually came to Paul Kobernick, who swatted it home from the left side of the net. The Fire scored a minute later, then Ed Bager scored on a power play to tie the game again. The Squirrels took the lead midway through the second period on a very bizarre play. As the teams skated 4-on-4, Desi Richelsen shot the puck toward the goaltender from the Squirrels’ zone. The Fire’s goaltender then hit it to a defenseman, but the puck bounced off of him and went in. Unfortunately for the Squirrels, that lead didn’t hold, as the Fire scored a minute later on the power play, then on yet another power play with 42 seconds remaining in the period to retake the lead, 5-4.

Sumner scored at 10:10 of the third period to tie the game at 5-5, but the Fire scored the final two goals.

The Squirrels posted 29 shots on goal, including 16 in the final period, as the Fire shot 30.

The Squirrels played without Matt Borlik, Chi Pham, Wade Marks and Sergio Balatan. The next game is Sunday, Dec. 3, at 10:30 p.m. against the Mighty Old Ducks in the Patrick rink.

Squirrels Dump Wrong Stuff

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The Squirrels took it to The Wrong Stuff on Tuesday, winning 10-1 in a game that was only close for the first ten minutes.

The Squirrels played without Paul Kobernick, Sergio Balatan and Chi Pham.

The next game is Sunday, Nov. 12, at 4:10 p.m. against Exit First in the Logsdon rink.

Scurvy 2, Squirrels 1

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The Squirrels are aware that it’s not always the best idea to call a timeout when the faceoff is in the defensive zone. Saturday night, they found themselves in a situation in which they needed to… and it cost them.

With about three minutes left to go in the game, the Squirrels had just killed a two-man power play and found their lines in disarray as play continued for several minutes without a whistle. Scurvy won the faceoff, kept the puck in the zone and eventually scored the game-winner in a 2-1 victory.

Back from Montana and playing his first game since 2005, Wade Marks scored at 8:04 of the first period to give the Squirrels the lead. Scurvy tied the game five minutes later and the 1-1 score stood for much of the game.

Drew Thiemann made 29 saves for the Squirrels, who posted 29 shots. The Squirrels played without Sergio Balatan, Ed Bager, Chris Long, Greg Wenograd, Phil Van der Vossen and Matt Borlik.

The next game is Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 10:30 p.m. against The Wrong Stuff.

Squirrels 7, Nordiques 0

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Last season, the Squirrels and Nordiques played three very close games and went 1-1-1 against each other. Sunday, the Squirrels exploded for six third-period goals, winning 7-0 in their most lopsided ice victory since March.

Rob Myers scored at 12:33 of the first period on the power play, but the Squirrels spent much of the first frame on the penalty kill. The score held for nearly 30 minutes.

Then the third period started, and Brent Machado got his first goal as a Squirrel while shorthanded at 12:26. Myers scored again a minute later on the power play. A minute and a half later, Machado scored his second goal – also shorthanded – on a breakaway. Two and a half minutes later, Ed Bager scored on another power play. Tony Richelsen and Paul Kobernick scored the other two goals late in the game.

Backup goaltender Brian Rimm made 13 saves for the shutout, while the Squirrels posted 28 shots. Matt Borlik played his first game of the season. The Squirrels played without Drew Thiemann, Don Marks, Greg Wenograd, Chris Long and Sergio Balatan.

The next game is Saturday, November 4, at 10:45 p.m. against Scurvy.