The Squirrels’ season collapsed Wednesday, as they couldn’t overcome the short bench that’s plagued them the second half of the season. They lost again to Honkey Kong, this time 8-1. With only seven skaters, things took a turn for the worse when Brent Machado went down with a shoulder injury after the first period.

The lone goal for the Squirrels came from Doug Winters in the third period on a delayed penalty.

The Squirrels are already looking forward to next season.

With only eight skaters in the season finale, the Squirrels stayed in the game for two periods, only trailing 1-0, before their legs gave away in the third in a 7-0 loss to Honkey Kong.

It’s been several years since the Squirrels played Honkey Kong (a team that originated in the roller league), as Honkey Kong has consistently been located in a division up from the Squirrels. But on Thursday, that didn’t matter as the short-benched Squirrels finagled a 5-3 victory.

Up 2-1 in the third, Mark Tessar scored somehow roofed a shot in the corner of the crease with no angle. In the third, Honkey Kong scored a controversial goal that hit the right post and ended up beneath Nabil Allaoua’s pads. The ref said it was in, and the score was suddenly 3-2 with plenty of time remaining. But with less than five minutes remaining, Rob Myers converted a rebound after a breakaway, then put the game out of reach with an empty-netter.

Three of the Squirrels hurried over to their roller game, which was already in progress, to play again.