The Squirrels-5 Holes rivalry continued through the 2007 season, as the 5 Holes won the first two games and the Squirrels took the third, but the third-seeded Squirrels won when it most mattered as they beat the sixth-seeded 5 Holes 6-3 Wednesday in the first round of the playoffs.

The 5 Holes struck fast as Andy Krol scored in the first 21 seconds of the game. But Jeff Ford — playing his first game since being suspended several weeks ago — tied it up two minutes later. The 5 Holes scored again eight minutes into the second period before a Rob Myers slap shot evened the game. The Squirrels got a power play and Desi Richelsen deflected in Kit Watson’s slap shot to give the Squirrels a 3-2 lead at the half.

Desi Richelsen scored his second goal of the game at 1:39 of the second period, then assisted on Phil Van der Vossen’s first goal of the season a couple of minutes later. Though the Squirrels gave up a power play goal soon after, they actually caught a break as the puck went in only a second after the first of two penalties expired, thus evening up the lines after the goal instead of allowing the 5 Holes more power play time. At 5-3, the Squirrels still had nearly half of the second period to hold on. Chris Long accepted a pass from Don Marks, shooting it past Brandon Miller to put the Squirrels up 6-3, and last year’s runner-ups exited the playoffs as good sportsmen.

The Squirrels will next play Enigma on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 10 p.m. Meanwhile, the Swingers upset Washington Whale in the other C Division match.

The Squirrels played without Wade Marks and Matt Borlik.

“Hey Milhouse, did you bring your A game or B game tonight?” Ben Sumner asked the 5 Holes’ goaltender Tuesday. “B game,” Miller replied, which the Squirrels weren’t so sure about because the 5 Holes had a 2-0 edge in the series this season. It turned out to be true. The Squirrels jumped out to a 4-0 lead and skated away with an 8-3 victory with one game remaining in the season.

Rob Myers scored three goals, Don Marks knocked in two, and Sumner, Tony Richelsen, and Kit Watson each had one. After the Squirrels went up 4-0, the 5 Holes cut the lead to 4-2 before the Squirrels started scoring again. Chris Wautel was held without a goal against his former team, and was even heckled after missing on a breakaway, but contributed five assists.

Sumner, Don Marks, Wautel, Watson, Myers, Jon Magi, Desi Richelsen and Tony Richelsen played out for the Squirrels, while Bob Sewell made 26 saves in net.

The next game is Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 8 p.m. against the Chupacabras.

There’s never a dull moment when the Squirrels and the 5 Holes match up, and Tuesday way no exception as the 5 Holes got the better of the Squirrels, 5-4.

Chris Wautel got the scoring started against his former team only 21 seconds into the game, but Gary Goldkind of the 5 Holes tied it two minutes later with a shorthanded goal. Goldkind set up another goal at 10:04, and then the 5 Holes took a 3-1 lead with 2:35 remaining. Wautel answered with a shorthanded goal of his own at 1:25, and Jeff Ford tied the game with 26 seconds to go in an eventful and first period.

In the second period, Ford gave the Squirrels the lead at 14:30, and everything was looking up for the Squirrels. A couple of close calls nearly put the Squirrels up by more but penalties followed instead. While the 5 Holes didn’t score on the power play, twice (including once in the first period) they scored immediately after the penalty expired. Goldkind set up two more goals to give the 5 Holes the lead, and they killed off the remaining five minutes to beat the Squirrels for the second time this season – the only two losses for the Squirrels.

The 5 Holes had a 38-28 shot advantage, while the Squirrels frustrated themselves with eight minor penalties (four in each period) to the 5 Holes’ two (one in each period).

The Squirrels played without Matt Borlik, Tony Richelsen, Chris Long, and Juan Canchasto. The next game is Tuesday, June 19, at 9:30 p.m. against the Chupacabras.