Playoffs: Squirrels 13, Bullhawks 3

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The Squirrels had their best offensive performance of the season Wednesday, eliminating the Bullhawks in the first round of the playoffs with a 13-3 victory.

Phil Van der Vossen got the scoring started and scored again late in the second half to give the Squirrels a ten goal lead which cut the game short.

In between Van der Vossen’s goals, Rob Myers scored three, Tony Richelsen scored two, Jon Magi scored two, and Matt Borlik, Kit Watson, Don Marks and Chi Pham had one apiece.

The Squirrels had a 7-3 lead at the half, then scored six straight in the second period.

The highlight of the game came at 1:27 of the second period when Van der Vossen got the puck with no defenders on him and had plenty of open space, then took it in and scored on what will now be known as the slowest breakaway ever.

The Squirrels outshot the Bullhawks, 25-16. Juan Canchasto missed the game for the Squirrels.

The next game is Monday, August 28, at 8:30 p.m. against Enigma, who eliminated Mors ab Alto earlier in the evening Wednesday.

Playoffs Set in C League

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The Squirrels finished in second place in the C division, meaning they will play the Bullhawks on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. for their first playoff game.

In the rest of the C division, Snipe won it after losing only three games all season. Enigma finished in third place. Enigma and the Squirrels both finished with 27 points, but the Squirrels won the tiebreaker with an extra victory. Silver Spring had led the league most of the summer but lost four in a row down the stretch, including two to the Squirrels, and dropped to fourth place.

After starting the year strongly, the 5 Holes finished in fifth place, losing six of their final 8 games. However, they ended the season with a solid 5-0 victory against Silver Spring.

Last season’s runner-ups, the Chupacabras, finished in 6th place with a .500 record. Bullhawks, Mors ab Alto and Storm followed.

For the regular season, the Squirrels once again had the best defense, allowing only 49 goals, despite playing one game without a goaltender and giving up six. Bob Sewell led the league with the best goals-against-average – 2.21. Snipe by far led the league in offense, scoring 143 goals.

Squirrels 7, Mors ab Alto 1

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Tuesday’s regular season finale was meaningless in the standings for Mors ab Alto, but important for the Squirrels because a victory would ensure that they finish no worse than third place going into the playoffs. Tony Richelsen and Ben Sumner combined for 5 goals to lead the Squirrels to a 7-1 victory.

Sumner got the scoring started at 12:07 of the first period with a backhand shot past Mors ab Alto goaltender Ryan Meeks. Sumner tried the same move again on a breakaway a few minutes later but was stopped. At 8:37, Phil Van der Vossen put the Squirrels up 2-0 with a shot in front of the net. At 3:31, Sumner scored his second goal assisted by Richelsen, and then Sumner scored again on the very same shift, also from Richelsen. The Squirrels led 4-0 at the half.

No goals were scored in the first ten minutes of the second half before Rob Myers hit Sumner with a pass in front of the net. Sumner hardly moved as the puck hit his stick, went over Meeks’ left pad and spun like a top past the goal line. Mors ab Alto scored its first goal on a delayed penalty call on the Squirrels with 4:47 to play. About a minute and a half later, Sumner hit Richelsen with a pass on a two-on-one break, and Richelsen shelved it to put the Squirrels up 6-1. Myers scored the final goal with 2:36 to go.

The Squirrels played without Ed Bager, Matt Borlik, Juan Canchasto, and Jeff Ford. Bob Sewell made 8 saves in net, while the Squirrels put up 28 shots.

The first playoff game is expected to be Wednesday, Aug. 23, either at 7:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. depending on the result of the Silver Spring-Snipe match.

Squirrels 4, Silver Spring 1

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When the Squirrels barely beat Silver Spring last week, they attributed it to Silver Spring having only one substitute. On Thursday, Silver Spring had a full bench, yet the Squirrels skated away with a convincing 4-1 victory.

Kit Watson got the scoring started with a spin-o-rama backhand shot that trickled in at 12:30 of the first period. At 7:07, Desi Richelsen exited the penalty box, skated directly toward the net, got a pass from Don Marks and shot it in to put the Squirrels up 2-0 on the power play. Two minutes later, Rob Myers put the Squirrels up 3-0 on another power play. The Squirrels killed a brief two-man advantage for Silver Spring before one of its players got nailed with a two-minute penalty and a misconduct.

Midway through the second period, Watson scored on a half-rink slapshot to put the Squirrels up 4-0. At 5:47 of the second period, Silver Spring was called for tripping Ed Bager. Glad he got the call, Bager pumped his fist and said “Yes!” The referee then called him for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, perhaps the most bizarre call the Squirrels have ever taken. Silver Spring broke Bob Sewell’s shutout bid on a power play with 1:35 remaining.

Silver Spring and the Squirrels each had 22 shots on net, 8 in the first period, 14 in the second. Sewell made 21 saves. The Squirrels played without Tony Richelsen, Matt Borlik, Chris Long, and Jeff Ford, who was serving a one-game suspension for his kneeing penalty in Wednesday’s game against Enigma.

The last game of the regular season is Tuesday, at 8:30 p.m. against Mors ab Alto. The Squirrels can still finish in third place with a victory, or if Enigma loses to the Bullhawks on Wednesday.

Squirrels 2, Enigma 2

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Two points from moving into a tie for third place with Enigma, the Squirrels didn’t gain any ground Wednesday as the teams skated away with a 2-2 tie. The Squirrels were lucky to even get that.

Neither team scored in the first period, though Enigma had two power plays. Neither team scored in the first 12 minutes of the second period, either, though Enigma had three power plays. But the biggest call came at 7:23 when Jeff Ford got a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing, a penalty that wouldn’t expire no matter how many times Enigma scored.

Then Ben Sumner drew a high sticking call, sending Enigma defender Eric Rosengarten out of the game, plus giving the Squirrels two minutes of three-on-three hockey during Ford’s major.

The game opened up. Rob Myers had a breakaway. Stopped. Then Jon Magi had one, and put the Squirrels up 1-0 with five minutes to play. Moments later, Don Marks scored what appeared to be a goal to put the Squirrels up 2-0, but it was called back because of a slight crease violation.

Then Enigma tied the game on the initial power play as the puck came out of Bob Sewell’s glove and fell into the net. Enigma went up 2-1 less than a minute later on a delayed penalty by the Squirrels.

About 45 seconds later, Sumner drew yet another high sticking penalty, sending another Enigma player to the box for the remainder of the game and giving the Squirrels another shot on the power play. This time, Marks made it count, scoring on a slap shot from the right circle with a minute to play.

The Squirrels outshot Enigma, 22-18, including 16-10 in the second period. The Squirrels played without Matt Borlik, Tony Richelsen, and Kit Watson. The next game is Thursday, at 7:30 p.m. against Silver Spring.