Category Archives: News

Squirrels 6, Silver Spring 4

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The Squirrels got a gift Thursday against first-place Silver Spring by having to face only six of its players, including the goaltender. By the time the game was over, Silver Spring had little gas left in the tank and the Squirrels escaped with a 6-4 victory.

The win didn’t come easy, however, as Silver Spring went up 4-2 early in the second half before the Squirrels scored four in a row. Contributing to the difficulty were six minor penalties – two of which overlapped to give Silver Spring two-man advantages.

Silver Spring scored first at 15:31, but Rob Myers’ low slap shot from the top of the left circle tied the game a couple of minutes later. Silver Spring scored on its first two-man advantage at 11:25. About five minutes later, the Squirrels tied the game 2-2 as Jon Magi took a pass from Myers and wristed the puck into the net. Silver Spring scored its second power play goal with 35 seconds remaining in the period to go up 3-2 at the break.

Early in the second period, Silver Spring extended its lead to 4-2, but 30 seconds later, the comeback was on. Juan Canchasto collected Desi Richelsen’s pass and shot the puck in from an awkward angle to cut the score to 4-3. Midway through the period, Don Marks made a pretty move around a defender to tie the game at 4-4 while shorthanded. Kit Watson sunk a long slap shot through several players to put the Squirrels back on top with 4:44 to go. Less than a minute later, Ben Sumner and Jeff Ford argued over which one of them should take a left-side faceoff in the offensive zone. Sumner insisted that Ford take it, and he did, knocking down two players and scoring to put the Squirrels up 6-4 while on their only power play.

Silver Spring had the shot advantage, 28-26, including 17-12 in the first half. Bob Sewell made several great saves down the stretch for the Squirrels. Chi Pham played offense instead of his usual position at defense. Tony Richelsen, Chris Long, Ed Bager, Phil Van der Vossen missed the game for the Squirrels.

The next game is Wednesday, August 9, at 8:30 p.m. against Enigma. The Squirrels also will face Silver Spring again Thursday, August 10, at 7:30 p.m.

Snipe 5, Squirrels 3

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The Squirrels’ six-game winning streak came to an end Thursday as Snipe, which has the highest-scoring offense in the league, took advantage of turnovers and scored twice while shorthanded.

Down 1-0 midway through the first period, Desi Richelsen exchanged passes with Chris Long, who scored the Squirrels’ first goal on the power play. With three minutes remaining, Snipe got its first shorthanded goal of the game and led at the half, 2-1.

In the second period, Richelsen hit Matt Borlik with a pass in front of the net, and Borlik tied the game at 2-2. Then Snipe scored three in a row, the second of which came shorthanded. Ben Sumner scored the Squirrels’ third goal on a breakaway with 46 seconds remaining.

Danny Flieshman and Gregory Goldkind, who leads the league in scoring by a substantial margin, had all of Snipe’s points. Snipe outshot the Squirrels, 25-24, including 15-12 in the second half. The Squirrels managed to kill a two-man advantage in the first period. The Squirrels played without Rob Myers, Ed Bager, Chi Pham and Tony Richelsen.

The next game is Thursday, August 3, at 8:30 p.m. against first-place Silver Spring.

Squirrels 7, Bullhawks 6

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Unable to get a backup goaltender before the game, the Squirrels still won their sixth in a row Wednesday with a 7-6 victory against the Bullhawks.

The Squirrels started the game by using three forwards and two defensemen, resulting in a high-scoring first half. The Bullhawks scored first a minute into the game, but the Squirrels answered with three in a row. Rob Myers took a pass from Ben Sumner to tie the game, 1-1, at 14:30. A few minutes later, Myers again took a pass from Sumner to put the Squirrels up, 2-1. Chi Pham scored two minutes later to go up 3-1, and then the Bullhawks got a couple to tie the game at 3-3.

With four minutes to go in the period, Kit Watson went five-hole on the goaltender to give the Squirrels the lead again at 4-3, but the Bullhawks tied it again two minutes later. 4-4. With ten seconds to go in the period, Sumner intercepted a pass and scored on a breakaway, and the Squirrels went into the half with a 5-4 lead.

The Squirrels changed their strategy in the second half, leading to less scoring on both ends but enough to save the game. Phil Van der Vossen and Desmond Richelsen split time blocking shots in front of the net as the Squirrels played with two forwards and two defensemen. The Bullhawks tied the game, 5-5, three minutes into the second period, then Watson sank a half-rink shot at 12:42 to regain the lead, 6-5. The Bullhawks tied the game, 6-6, at 10:21, but that was their final goal. At 5:48, Watson took a pass off the boards from Sumner and skated all the way in and flipped in the game-winner. 7-6. The Squirrels killed off the rest of the period, including a two-minute minor on Myers at the end of the period.

The Squirrels outshot the Bullhawks, 24-6. Since the Squirrels didn’t have a goaltender, the Bullhawks only got shot credit for those that went in. The Squirrels are a lifetime 5-0-2 against the Bullhawks. This game marked the first time the Squirrels played a roller game without a goaltender.

The Squirrels played without Don Marks, Juan Canchasto, Matt Borlik, goaltender Bob Sewell, Jeff Ford, and captain Ed Bager, who will miss the remainder of the regular season with a hand injury. Bager intends to return for the playoffs.

The next game is Thursday, July 27, at 8:30 p.m. against Snipe.

Squirrels 4, Chupacabras 3

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The Squirrels continued their dominance over the Chupacabras on Wednesday, winning 4-3 despite playing with only seven skaters. Desi Richelsen, Chi Pham and Rob Myers played defense, while Jeff Ford, Ed Bager, Ben Sumner and Chris Long split the offensive duties.

Six minutes into the game, the Chupacabras struck first, but Ford netted his 19th of the season and the first period ended with a 1-1 score.

Less than two minutes into the second period, the Chupacabras regained the lead. Then Ford collected a centering pass from Sumner and scored his 20th. Myers gave the Squirrels the lead later in the period, and Bager whacked in a puck for the much-needed insurance goal on a power play with three minutes remaining. The Chupacabras scored with 22 seconds to go, but the Squirrels held on to win.

The Squirrels outshot the Chupacabras 29-18, including 17 in the second period. The Squirrels lead the all-time series with eight wins, one loss and one tie in three seasons.

The Squirrels played without Bob Sewell, Don Marks, Tony Richelsen, Kit Watson, Phil Van der Vossen, Matt Borlik, Jon Magi and Juan Canchasto. The Squirrels used a substitute goaltender.

The next game is Wednesday, July 19 at 8:30 p.m. against the Bullhawks.

Squirrels 4, 5-Holes 3

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So far this season, all of the Squirrels’ victories came by three or more goals, and several of those wins were blowouts. On Wednesday, the Squirrels finally won a game by a competitive margin, and against a very good team which had shut them out earlier in the season — The 5 Holes. The 4-3 victory turned out to be an instant classic and a huge gut-check for the Squirrels, who are crawling their way back up the standings after four early-season losses.

The 5 Holes got the scoring started a little more than two minutes into the game as Matt Ray fought off Ben Sumner and wristed the puck past Squirrels goaltender Bob Sewell. A little more than six minutes later, The 5 Holes intercepted an airborne puck in front of the net and Chris Wautel tapped it in for a 2-0 lead. With two minutes to go in the period, Jeff Ford netted his 17th of the season, and the teams went into the break with a 2-1 score.

Two and a half minutes into the second period, Rob Myers tied the game with a shot in front of the net. On the very next shift, Ford gave the Squirrels the lead with a low shot through a screen past 5-Holes goaltender Brandon Miller. At 9:27 of the second period, Ford sent a perfect cross-rink pass to Sumner, who effortlessly tapped in the puck to put the Squirrels up 4-2. The 5 Holes cut the lead to 4-3 with 8:21 remaining, but the Squirrels held on for the victory.

The Squirrels played without Matt Borlik, Phil Van der Vossen, Don Marks, Chi Pham and Juan Canchasto. The Squirrels outshot The 5 Holes, 20-17.

The next game is Wednesday, July 12, at 8:30 p.m. against the Chupacabras.