Since the league rescheduled this game to Sunday afternoon, the Squirrels knew they would have a short bench reminiscent of last summer. Nine players showed up, but the Vikings had a few more substitutes, which made much of the difference in their 4-2 victory.
The Squirrels held their own for almost two periods, leading 2-1 up until the final moments of the second period. This was despite playing the first few minutes with six total skaters and no goaltender, and not getting a third substitute until almost two-thirds of the way through the game.
Midway through the first period, Ed Bager got the scoring started as he tapped in a pass from Matt Borlik off the face-off. The Vikings tied the game soon after. In the second period, Tony Richelson found himself on the breakaway, streaked across the middle and put the Squirrels up by one.
Late in the second period, the Vikings tied the game off of a fluke knuckler after the puck dropped for the face-off in the Squirrels’ zone. Less than a minute later, they scored again to take the lead, then scored once more in the final frame. Despite being short of breath, the Squirrels staged a final flurry but couldn’t score again.
Borlik, Bager, Phil Van der Vossen, Ben Sumner, Don Marks, Charles Wolstein, Desmond Richelson, Tony Richelson, and Drew Thiemann played for the Squirrels, who dropped to 11-5-1 on the season. The Squirrels outshot the Vikings, 21-14.
The next game is Thursday, March 9, at 10:30 against Dog Star in Resor.