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.

Squirrels 6, Chupacabras 5

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In a rematch of last season’s finalists, the Squirrels and Chupacabras were at each other’s throats Wednesday, battling to a 1-1 tie in the first period before the Squirrels scored five in the second period for a 6-2 victory.

The Chupacabras got the scoring started at 3:32 of the first period, while giving Squirrels goaltender Bob Sewell several more tough shots to deal with along the way. Then Kit Watson finally put the Squirrels on the board a minute and a half later with a burst of speed through the zone.

A minute into the second period, defenseman Chi Pham took a beautiful slap shot from the right point, which deflected off of Ed Bager and into the net to give the Squirrels the advantage. Another minute later, Tony Richelsen — playing his first game of the season after sitting out ten games with a hand injury — scored unassisted, and was careful not to high-five anyone afterward.

The Chupacabras cut the score to 3-2 a couple of minutes later, but then Pham took another slap shot from nearly the same spot at the point. This time, the puck went in without being deflected.

Jeff Ford scored his team-leading 16th goal middway through the second period, and Ben Sumner added his 10th of the season with three minutes to play.

In his fourth season as a Squirrel, Watson finally got called for a penalty, a holding infraction with two minutes to play in the game against one of the best players on the Chupacabras roster. Little was lost, however, as the other player also got a penalty — for roughing.

The shots on goal were dead even, as both teams took 12 in the first period and 9 in the second. The Squirrels played without Juan Canchasto. Phil Van der Vossen left the game early with an injury.

The next game is Wednesday, June 28, at 8:30 p.m. against The 5 Holes.