Tag Archives: 2006 Roller

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.

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.