No ice? No problem

The NHL may not start its season on time, but at PUC, hockey is in full swing.

Intramural floor hockey played its second week on Sept. 18 at the Hammond Armory.  The sport is seeing an increasing turnout: after years of only three or four teams, the league increased to five teams last fall, and to seven this semester.

The first game of the evening saw GFK take on Olympiads.  The game was a one-sided affair that ended before regulation, as per the slaughter rule (which stipulates that any team that takes a 10-goal lead wins the game automatically).

GFK opened the game with five straight goals, but Olympiads responded with two of their own.  That was the first period.

After that, GFK ran away with the game, scoring six goals to go up 11-2 in the second period.  Then, 1:08 into the third, they added their twelfth and final goal to take the game.

For GFK, a dominating performance was inspiring after a weak showing in Week 1.

“It felt good after last week,” GFK’s Jordan Lindeman said, “Especially since we’re missing half our team.”

The next match saw Ninja Turdles take on Buddy Checks.  Though it did not end by the slaughter rule, it was still a one-sided contest.

It was close in the first period, with Ninja Turdles clutching a 1-0 lead at the buzzer.  In the second period, however, they pulled ahead, scoring two goals less than 30 seconds in and ending the period up 4-0.  The third saw them add three more, to complete the shutout 7-0.

The third and final game of the night saw 2011 champion and perennial powerhouse Team America take on Room 125. Team America came out strong, leading 5-0 after one period.

In the second, Room 125 tightened up their defense at first and scored twice, but Team America added three goals of their own.  In the third, Team America completed the victory by going up 12-2 and becoming the second team to invoke the slaughter rules on the evening.

After the game, Team America was confident but quiet, for they knew that though they won easily this night, other nights they will not have it as easy.

“There’s a lot of good teams,” Michael Wilczynski said.  “We need to keep playing hard and keep scoring.”

An odd number of teams means each week, one team has a bye.  This week the resting team was Mighty Ducks.  The other teams were relieved, as many, including intramural director Matt Dudzik, see them as the team to beat this year.

Floor hockey returns to the Armory Sept. 25 at 6:15 p.m.