The Squirrels won their first game in the C2 division Thursday, beating the last place team, Syracuse, 7-5, thanks to hat tricks from Mike Bronson and Chris Wautel. Rob Myers scored the other goal.

The Squirrels went down 2-0 in the first period but Bronson and Wautel each notched goals in the final two minutes of the period.

The Squirrels went up 3-2 in the second period as Bronson scored again. Syracuse answered back, then the Squirrels regained the lead as Myers shot in Chris Long’s pass. But Syracuse scored again and the score was 4-4 going into the final period.

Bronson scored shorthanded only 10 seconds into the third period, and Wautel gave the Squirrels a two-goal cushion about two minutes later. Syracuse scored on the power play but that was as close as they could get before Wautel scored his third of the game to give the Squirrels a 7-5 win.

The Squirrels outshot Syracuse, 7-5, behind backup goaltender Paul Diosuran.

The next game is Thursday, Jan. 31, against the Fighting Docs at 10.

Tony Richelsen has been on a tear lately, scoring 11 goals in the last five games, including two critical ones in the Squirrels’ 4-3 playoff victory against Syracuse on Thursday. The win puts the Squirrels in the championship game Monday against top-seeded Dog Star, who beat the Nordiques earlier in the evening.

Richelsen got the scoring started in the first period, and Don Marks slapped in a shot from the point to give the Squirrels the early lead.

In the second period, Ed Bager shot the puck from the far left side of the net and it somehow got through.

Soon after, Syracuse scored on a slap shot from the blue line, and several minutes later, and the score was suddenly 3-2.

On an extended shift in the third period, Richelsen got a puck to bounce in the net to put the Squirrels back up by two. Syracuse answered on a fast break, but the Squirrels held on with three minutes remaining, killing a penalty in the process.

The Squirrels played without Sergio Balatan and Chi Pham. The Squirrels have lost to Dog Star twice this season, but beat them 4-3 back on March 9.

The championship game is Monday, at 9:30 p.m. in the Logsdon pavilion.

The Screaming Squirrels nearly doubled their opponent in shots on Tuesday, but only one went in and Syracuse skated away with a 2-1 victory.

After a scoreless first period, Syracuse got a pair of unassisted goals in the second period. The Squirrels finally got on the board while skating 4-on-4 at 10:53 of the third period when Rob Myers took a pass from Don Marks and slid it between the goaltenders legs to bring the Squirrels within one. Syracuse stopped the Squirrels during a desperate flurry in the final moments.

The Squirrels posted nine shots in the first period, and 14 in each of the next two. Drew Thiemann made 17 saves for the Squirrels, as Syracuse posted only 19 shots. Jared Genser, Desi Richelson, and Charles Wolstein missed the game. Chi Pham subbed on defense. The Squirrels had previously beaten Syracuse, 5-2, earlier in the season.

The next game is Dec. 13 at 10:05 p.m. against Southwest Airlines in the Patrick rink.

After giving up eight goals last week, the Squirrels tightened up on defense and shut down Syracuse on Thursday, 5-2.

The scoring didn’t start until the second period when Tony Richelson scored at a nearly impossible angle when he hit the top left corner of the net from the far right side of the goal. Later in the period, Don Marks got the puck through four players and the goaltender to put the Squirrels up by two.

In the third period, Ben Sumner scored off of a rebound, but Syracuse struck back less than a minute later. Marks then scored his second of the game from Matt Borlik’s centering pass. Syracuse again cut the Squirrels’ lead to two with 6:38 remaining in the game before having a four-minute power play. But the Squirrels killed it, and then Sumner got his second goal of the game after fetching a loose puck from a neutral-zone collision and skated in on the breakaway.

Marks played right wing instead of defense. Ed Bager was the other right wing as the Squirrels were short on forwards. Jared Genser, Adam Hughes and Sergio Balatan missed the game for the Squirrels. Drew Thiemann played defense, and Brian Rimm made 15 saves in net. The Squirrels had 32 shots, 15 in the second period.

The next game is Tuesday, at 10 p.m. against Southwest Airlines in the Patrick rink.