Ashley’s Ruination moved into the semi-finals Tuesday night after beating Beer Belly Brewing 4-2 in Ann Arbor’ Ice Cube Arena.
Steve Pouliot opened the scoring, while Paul Sholtis, Sean McGrath, and Joel Benton chipped in goals as well. “I should have had two,” said Benton. “I was robbed!”
Rusty “Griswold” Barron was tough in net, holding Beer Belly to one goal for most of the night, with the second coming just before the buzzer to end the game.
Hopslam, playing in the adjacent rink, fell to the Ice Men 1-7 in their quarterfinal match. Tom Colis had the team’s only goal in a frustrating loss. “We have a good team,” said winger Jeff Price just before the game. “This team can do it.”
However, that was not to be as the Ice Men jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Hopslam made it 3-1 early in the second, but the Ice Men added a fourth goal with about three minutes left. A fifth goal mid-way through the third period effectively ended the game.
“They just outplayed us,” noted forward Bob Brock.
Forward Gary Witt suffered injuries to the shoulder and head in the first period, and did not return. Witt was treated and released by doctors at the U-M Hospitals with a concussion. “We know it was serious because Gary didn’t drink any beer after the game,” said GM Mark Woods in an official statement to the press.