After seeing their seven game winning streak end two weeks ago, the Squirts used the Christmas break to get refocused and re-energized. That included lots of Wii and Xbox 360 action, at least at my house. The Squirts also welcomed William Elston to the team. On Sunday, January 2, the Squirts welcomed the West Virginia Wild to Bird Arena. The last time these two teams met, the Squirts won 10-5 and 7-1. Could the Wild be just what the Doctor ordered or could the Wild exact some revenge.
Without Anthony Koping on Sunday, Teagan Ries was going to have to man the nets for both games. In the first game, it took the offense a little while to get going, but when it did, there was no stopping it. Chase Sammons found the net twice within 28 seconds and the first period ended with the Squirts ahead 2-0. In the second period, five different Squirts found the net, including Max Cook, Chase Sammons, Jackson Kohn, Evan Adams and Finn Mitchell. At the end of period two, the Squirts lead 7-0. The scoring slowed down in the third period with only Nicholas Barga and Jaden Patterson scoring goals. Jaden’s first goal of his career came with 2 seconds left on the clock. A Buzzer Beater. In the end, the Squirts won 9-0. The stifling defensive play of Evan Adams, Ethan Zatta, Finn Mitchell and Chase Sammons limited the Wild to just 5 shots on Teagan Ries and Ms. Ries notched her fourth shutout win.
The second game was much the same as the first game defensively. The quintet of Adams, Zatta, Mitchell, Sammons and Ries, limited the Wild to 7 shots on goal. Again, Teagan was up to the task and notched another shutout win. Offensively, the Squirts looked like they were going to roll again when Finn Mitchell found the net 27 seconds into the first period. However, for the rest of the first period and all of the second period, the Wild goalie denied every shot on goal. At the end of two periods, the Squirts led 1-0. It was not until the 7 minute mark in the third period that the Squirts started to take control of the game. Chase Sammons found the net twice in 29 seconds to give the Squirts a 3-0 lead. The score stayed 3-0 until 1:18 left in the game. In a span of 54 seconds, Jackson Kohn, Dominic Norris and Evan Adams found the net to seal the win, 6-0.
With the two wins on Sunday, the Squirts are now 10-3-1. The Squirts next action will be January 15-16 when they have one game with the CAHA Stars at the Columbus Fairgrounds Coliseum and two games with the Troy Bruins at Bird Arena. These should be three tough games so come out and help cheer on the Squirts.