The Winter Bronze 2 defending champions Screaming Squirrels began their title defense last night with a well-played 6-4 win over the 3^rd seeded team, Strange Brew. Officially outshot 33-22, the Squirrels were able to capitalize early and then often to build a lead that they would never fully relinquish.

The Squirrels’ scoring came entirely from two players. Brent Machado scored three times and Tony Richelsen netted two. Two of Machado’s goals came on the power play, the first coming early in the 1^st period, and the second after a wonderful passing play early in the 3^rd. The early 3^rd period goal would stand up to be the game winner but for good measure, Machado would finish off his hat-trick about five minutes later. Meanwhile, Richelsen’s first two goals came on spectacular end-to-end rushes. Fellow defenseman Don Marks said, “Every time they (Strange Brew) dump it in the corner, it’s like a breakaway for Tony.” After leading all Squirrels in playoff scoring last year, Tony is well on his way to repeating the feat this season. But can he hold off regular season scoring leader Brent for the playoff scoring lead?

The Squirrels dominated the special teams play, scoring on 2 of 4 power play opportunities and killing off all three short-handed situations. Assists were credited to Rob Myers (2), Machado, Chi Pham, Ben Sumner, and goalie Eric Coulson who was all over the score sheet with 29 saves on 33 shots, the lone assist on Richelsen’s 2^nd goal, and a tripping penalty in the 3^rd period.

The Squirrels opponent in the divisional semi-finals is undetermined until the last quarterfinal game between the Highlanders and Laughing Skulls is played on 4/5. The other winners of quarterfinal games were the 7^th seeded DC Fire with a stunning upset of the 2^nd seeded Heineken Light, and the 4^th seeded Piranhas beating the Bullets. Assuming the top seeded Highlanders handle the Laughing Skulls, the Squirrels will play the Piranhas on 4/7 @ 9:40. If the Skulls manage to upset the Highlanders, then the Squirrels would play DC Fire (their only meeting this season) in the same time slot.

Oddly enough, Sunday’s 3-1 victory for the Squirrels won’t earn them extra standings points, since a scheduling abnormality got them an extra game in the regular season. Instead, the win kept them from losing two points. While the first-round playoff opponent isn’t set until after the Piranhas-Nordiques game, the Squirrels stepped up their efforts in preparation for the playoffs, which begin next week.

After a scoreless first period, goaltender Eric Coulson let in his only goal of the game early in the second. But the Squirrels’ took advantage of quality blueline shots as Don Marks and Chi Pham each tallied, with Pham’s marker coming on a power play.

After lots of hard work in keeping it 2-1, the Squirrels added an insurance marker on another power play as Paul Kobernick netted a rebound. Brent Machado earned assists on all three goals, and led the Squirrels in scoring with 13 goals and 9 assists for the season.

The Squirrels finished 12-8-1 on the season (with one win not counting) as they head into the playoffs, set to defend their Bronze 2 winter championship.