Eight skaters + two goalies = two points?

March 15, 2026

The short-benched and temporarily goalie-less Spiders outlasted the shorter-benched Spartans Sunday night.

For the second-to-last game of the winter season, winter returned to the State of Hockey with a force, as a blizzard warning put the Spiders/Spartans game at risk of being the first weather-related postponement since 2019 (“The Great Freeze Off 2019”), and second overall (the first was for “Snownami 2010”).

Thanks to the weather, the spring break schedule and the injury bug that has plagued the roster, there were only 8 skaters available for the last-place Spiders (18th place 1–16–0–1; 3 pts.) Sunday night. But as the Spider captain found out while trudging through the snowdrifts into EPCC, the Spartans (12th place; 8–10; 16 pts.) were jealous of the plentiful roster that was showing up for the red-and-white, as the Spartans would only have six on their end of the ice.

Before puck drop, however, the same Spider captain got the dreaded call from netminder Jack: “I’m going to be late.” Thankfully the game on the EPCC 2 ice beforehand was an AHA C3 matchup (Wood Knocks vs. Wildcats), and their goalie, Blake Kelley, was able to stick around for the first period before heading to his third game of the night.

So with an EBUG to start the game, the Spiders tried to take advantage of what may be their best offensive opportunity in the history of the franchise. While eight skaters vs. six skaters may not seem like much of a difference on paper, it makes a huge difference on the ice. The Spiders could easily control the puck as the Spartans’ forecheck ran out of gas.

DeBleeckere got the Spiders on the board in the first (which was Tom’s first of the season, once he got demoted from the blueline). The Spiders’ sub goalie tried to keep the game flowing by stopping every Spartan icing. And when he tried the same on a netmouth scramble, the Spartans’ Mitson was there to collect on the gift-wrapped puck. Tie game.

But that was about it for the Spartans’ offense. Berman got his first of the night, with 3:12 to go in the first. At which point netminder Jack had made it onto the ice. In the second, DeBleeckere got his second, followed by Berman, followed by Johnson, all the while Sofie collected a pair of apples on the breakout passes.

In the third, the hats rained down on the EPCC 2 ice from the zero fans in attendance, as DeBleeckere got his hatty (his first in 10 years?). That’s the Spiders’ first hat trick since Harry Long’s on Jan. 6, 2025, vs. the Fighting Loons Red.

The Spider office was nightcapped by Johnson from Schuster’s Office™ to go up 7–1, and give the Spartans the option for some lung relief (runtime clock).

But with just under four to go, after calling a timeout, the Spartans bookended the scoring, and removed the option for runtime. The Spiders controlled the rest of the remaining time, and buzzer mercifully sounded for both gassed teams.

Final score: 7–2

Surprisingly, no penalties were called in the game, as seemingly no one opted for a free 2-min breather?

The victory, just the second of the season for the Spiders, finally gets a crooked number into the W column (at 2–16–0–1) and 5 points. Though that may be just shy of making the playoffs, unless the 10 teams in front of the C3 cutoff somehow get moved to C2 (or the Spiders down to D1 … or Beginner School).

The Spider/Spartan season series ends at a split, and lifetime against this version of the Spartans, the series of which started in the 2022–23 season, that team’s first at C3, is now at 3–2 for the Spiders.

Next up, the last game of the season, a rematch with the Pines, and again at New Hope. The first game in November fell decidedly toward the Pines, 6–2, at New Hope.

Puck drop next Saturday, 8:45 at New Hope.