A Tale of Two Houses
by Cecilia Nieves
The weather at the opening of Sunday’s games left an ominous feeling in both players and fans alike in what was expected to be a challenging matchup. Silver Spring House Heavyweights came into the game short several players including team co-captain Dave Olson, leaving them more than a little concerned about what the day would hold for them. On the other side of the field the Ale House Marauders, who have been no strangers to injuries, were hoping to feed off the energy of their overtime match up last week, but hoping to capitalize this time around.
Ale House came out with a bang with an intense assault on the Heavyweight defense. Silver Spring House’s defenders, Daryl Cardwell and Jason Kirkpatrick fought hard to turn away the Marauder assault, but Andrew “Rhino” Wozniak and Steve “Jake” Jakubowski had other ideas. Together with support for their entire team, Ale House put on a goal scoring clinic; finding the back of the net three times. Silver Spring co-captain Joel “Jo-El” Ingebrigtson answered with a fast shot on goal. Teammate Nolan Hoffman created an excellent scoring opportunity with an amazing sideline cut, but Ale House pounced ending the quarter ahead 3-1(10) to the Heavyweights 1-1(4).
Ale House offense attempted to come out quickly in the second quarter but a phenomenal stop and subsequent solo by Spring House’s Nolan Hoffmann caused the Marauders to stall for a moment. Inspired by their teammate, Heavyweights Tony Sholts, Shannon Kuechenmeister and Brendan Murphy fought to retain possession and momentum for Silver Spring House. Marauders Sam Hanrahan, Chad Gentry and Trent Kielley quickly shifted back into high gear, stunting the Heavyweight push and opening up opportunities for their offense. As the whistle signaled the end of the first half, Ale House retained their lead with a solid 5-3(18) to the Heavyweight 1-4(7).