XU Muskie Invite Dec '08
On December 6, the Ohio Squirrels traveled to their farthest tournament to Xavier University. From the Squirrels host pool, Milford HS, it is approximately 25 minutes. Due to the distance, a large draw of 14 players were found filling a roster and competing against two local programs: University of Cincinnati and Xavier University and one program just north of Columbus, Denison University.
The team's first game was against Denison University. Not knowing what to expect, the Squirrels used their patience to see how Denison was going to test the waters. Denison had an equally sized bench but the Squirrels depth was far too much as the rodents jumped on the Big Red 10-1 by the first half. In the second half, the Squirrels used it as a practice on different plays and variations and continued to be successful both on offense and defense.
The second game was against the University of Cincinnati. Strong center play was done by the powerful Jason Wickes and expert passing by the finesseful Jeff Carr. A counter attack was a major reason why the Squirrels were able to win, but it also included another impressive showing by Steve "The Barrier" Coupland in the net. The Squirrels only let in 2 goals the entire game and was able to win 14-2.
The final game was against a strong Musketeer squad. Their last meeting was in Akron where the Squirrels won by 5, but Xavier is known to make impressive showings at their home pool...sort of like a "we will protect this house" theme. The Squirrels went up 4-1 in the first quarter, but the Musketeers slowly came back with several counter attacks to overpower a tired Squirrel bunch. Last second shots came down to the wire, but the Squirrels were able to pull away and win 9-8.
