Tuesday’s regular season finale was meaningless in the standings for Mors ab Alto, but important for the Squirrels because a victory would ensure that they finish no worse than third place going into the playoffs. Tony Richelsen and Ben Sumner combined for 5 goals to lead the Squirrels to a 7-1 victory.
Sumner got the scoring started at 12:07 of the first period with a backhand shot past Mors ab Alto goaltender Ryan Meeks. Sumner tried the same move again on a breakaway a few minutes later but was stopped. At 8:37, Phil Van der Vossen put the Squirrels up 2-0 with a shot in front of the net. At 3:31, Sumner scored his second goal assisted by Richelsen, and then Sumner scored again on the very same shift, also from Richelsen. The Squirrels led 4-0 at the half.
No goals were scored in the first ten minutes of the second half before Rob Myers hit Sumner with a pass in front of the net. Sumner hardly moved as the puck hit his stick, went over Meeks’ left pad and spun like a top past the goal line. Mors ab Alto scored its first goal on a delayed penalty call on the Squirrels with 4:47 to play. About a minute and a half later, Sumner hit Richelsen with a pass on a two-on-one break, and Richelsen shelved it to put the Squirrels up 6-1. Myers scored the final goal with 2:36 to go.
The Squirrels played without Ed Bager, Matt Borlik, Juan Canchasto, and Jeff Ford. Bob Sewell made 8 saves in net, while the Squirrels put up 28 shots.
The first playoff game is expected to be Wednesday, Aug. 23, either at 7:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. depending on the result of the Silver Spring-Snipe match.