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.

Squirrels 8, Storm 0

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Playing the winless Storm for the third time this season, the Squirrels had every reason to believe that they would easily win again Thursday, but the game remained scoreless for the first 7:30. Then Jeff Ford — one of the top goal scorers in the league — took over, netting three in a row while leading the Squirrels to an 8-0 romp.

After Ford’s natural hat trick, Ben Sumner scored two in a row, both assisted by Ed Bager, and the Squirrels had a 5-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, Ford scored two more, forcing a running clock with 13:30 remaining in the game. Chris Long got the final goal with about six minutes remaining.

Aside from the scoring, the game featured five misconducts, two on the Squirrels and three on Storm.

Bob Sewell made 10 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Squirrels posted 23 shots on net. Don Marks, Matt Borlik, Juan Canchasto, Kit Watson and Tony Richelsen missed the game for the Squirrels.

The next game is Wednesday, June 21, at 8:30 p.m. against the Chupacabras, the team the Squirrels beat in the championship game last season.

Squirrels 7, Enigma 2

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Playing their first game ever against Enigma on Tuesday, the Squirrels managed a 2-1 lead by the half before blowing open the game for a 7-2 victory.

Wearing the taboo jersey no. 99 (because it was the spare one that the Squirrels ordered), Juan Canchasto felt added pressure to put up some points, and did. With a few nifty moves to fake out the goaltender, Canchasto got the scoring started two minutes into the first period. Enigma tied the game five minutes later, but with 24 seconds remaining in the period, Ed Bager scored on a backhand shot to give the Squirrels the lead again.

In the second period, Canchasto scored his second goal from behind the net as the puck bounced off of a defender and went in. Enigma cut the score to 4-2 with a power play goal, but it was all Squirrels after that. Jon Magi, Ben Sumner, Kit Watson and Desi Richelsen contributed to the five-goal second period.

The Squirrels put up 23 shots on net. Enigma, the only team so far to beat first place Silver Spring, had 10 shots against Squirrels goaltender Bob Sewell.

The Squirrels played without Tony Richelsen, Don Marks, Matt Borlik, Rob Myers, and Jeff Ford.

The next game is Thursday, June 15, at 8:30 p.m. against Storm, a team still winless in the division.

Silver Spring 4, Squirrels 1

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Playing their first game ever against the one-time B-league team Silver Spring on Tuesday, the Squirrels got their shots but fell convincingly, 4-1.

Silver Spring started off strong in the first period, putting up 18 shots and scoring three times. The Squirrels only put up nine shots in the first frame. Silver Spring increased their lead with a power play goal off of a face off late in the second period. With five seconds remaining, Kit Watson finally put the Squirrels on the board to spoil Silver Spring goaltender Bill Coluzzi’s shutout bid. The Squirrels outshot Silver Spring 14-6 in the second period, but Coluzzi made several quality saves.

The Squirrels played without Don Marks, Matt Borlik and Phil Van der Vossen, who had an incident with his cat wetting his equipment.

The next game is Tuesday, June 6, at 8:30 p.m. against Enigma, another team the Squirrels haven’t played yet, but the only one to beat Silver Spring this season.

Squirrels 8, Mors ab Alto 1

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The Squirrels found their offense Wednesday, winning 8-1 and avenging an early-season loss to Mors ab Alto. Jeff Ford scored five goals and added an assist, while Ben Sumner notched two and assisted on four of Ford’s goals.

The Squirrels didn’t start out well, however, as Mors ab Alto scored in the first minute of play. Sumner tied the game a few minutes later by taking the puck around the net and shooting far-side as Ford tied up the defender in the middle. The score stood for eight more minutes before Ford got his first and second of the game, giving the Squirrels a 3-1 lead at the half.

Three minutes into the second period, Ford scored his third of the game, then his fourth six minutes later. Finally, the Squirrels’ second line got in on the action as Ed Bager hit in his third of the season. With three and a half minutes to play, the Squirrels had a face-off in the offensive zone. Ford skated over to Sumner and said, “Try to [win the face off] more to the left.” Sumner won the dual, to the left, and Ford immediately shot the puck and scored his fifth goal. Sumner scored on a breakaway with 30 seconds remaining.

The Squirrels only played with two full lines, something that concerned them going into the game. Don Marks, Kit Watson, Juan Canchasto, Rob Myers and Matt Borlik missed the game. Mors ab Alto played without their starting goaltender, Ryan Meeks, and instead used the Bullhawks’ Guile Ghambir, who made 30 saves. The Squirrels held Mors ab Alto to seven shots.

The next game is Tuesday, May 30, at 8:30 p.m. against Silver Spring.

Notes: No penalties were called in the game, something that hasn’t happened in a Squirrels game in years… Tony Richelsen got his cast taken off, but is still recovering… At 4-3, the Squirrels once again have a winning record, but still have more losses than four other teams in the nine-team division.