Entering this past weekend the Squirts were riding a 7 game winning streak. In front of them were two games Saturday against the Newark Generals and two games Sunday against the CAHA Stars. All games were played at the raucous Bird Arena.
Up first were the Newark Generals. Back on November 21, the Squirts beat the Generals 4-0. The Generals came in with payback on their minds. And payback they got. In the first game the Generals jumped out to a 2-1 lead after the 1st period and never relinquished it. The final score was 4-2 Generals. Chase Sammons scored both goals with assists from Jackson Kohn and Connor Pepper.
The second game was a barn burner. Newark jumped out to an early lead of 3-0 two minutes into the second period. The Squirts stormed back with three goals from Teagan Ries, Dominic Norris and Nicholas Barga to tie the game at 3-3 after two periods. Halfway through the third period the Squirts took the lead with a goal from Chase Sammons. It looked like the Squirts had the game won when, with 15 seconds left in the game, Reece Trowbridge streaked past the Squirt defenders and tied the score with 11 seconds left on the clock. We went from the Thrill of Victory to the Agony of Defeat, well Tie, in a few seconds. It may have been a tie, but it was one heck of a game.
Sunday the CAHA Stars traveled from Columbus to take on the Squirts. This would be the first meeting of the Squirts with a team from CAHA. Could the Squirts rebound from Saturday night? Yes they could. The Squirts came with their guns a blazing. The Squirts found the net for 3 goals in the first period, two more in the second period and another three in the third period. Teagan Ries and the Squirt defense were also on fire. The Defense swarmed the Stars limiting them to just 4 shots on goal. Ms. Ries rejected all 4 shots to record another shutout. The Squirts were led on offense by Nicholas Barga and Finn Mitchell with two goals apiece. Also, chipping in with one goal apiece were Chase Sammons, Ethan Zatta, Jackson Kohn and Anthony Koping.
Game 2 wasn’t as easy. The Squirts jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one period. The Stars stormed back with three goals in the second period, but were answered by two goals from the Squirts. The score was knotted at 3-3 after two periods. The Stars picked up their fourth goal at 11:11 and followed with another goal 5 minutes later to take a 5-3 lead. The Squirts mounted an all out assault on the Stars goalie, trying to tie the score or eke out a win. However, the Squirts were only able to find the net one more time and lost 4-5. It was not for a lack of effort. The Squirts got 12 shots on goal the third period, but the Stars goalie was stellar in the net.
The Squirts will have to wait until February 13 for revenge. The Squirts will travel to Chiller North, Lewis Center, for the tie breaking game. It should be exciting.
The Squirts will be off until January 2 when the West Virginia Wild come to town.
On Behalf of all of the Athens Squirts, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here is hoping everyone finds something Hockey under the Christmas treeJ