Heard on the Hill
U.S. ladies Olympians be a part of the competition as Lawmakers get fifth straight win
Posted March 2, 2023 at 6:08pm
In an 8-3 rout, the crew referred to as the Lawmakers on Wednesday put their rivals, the Lobbyists, on ice on the thirteenth Congressional Hockey Problem, a charity occasion that works to advance entry to hockey.
The Lawmakers this yr have been made up of 1 precise member of Congress, Rep. Tom Emmer, and crammed out with congressional workers and others with connections to Capitol Hill. They began robust and secured their fifth straight win — together with bragging rights they carry to subsequent yr.
Either side employed the companies of Olympians from the U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Workforce. Haley Skarupa, a 2018 gold medalist, secured the puck for the Lawmakers on the opening faceoff. From there, the crew set a quick tempo and put robust strain on their opponents’ internet.
Robert MacGregor, an expert workers member with the Home Pure Sources Committee, scored the primary aim of the night time for the Lawmakers to the delight of the group on the Medstar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington.
Enjoying off that momentum, seconds later, William Bensur — press secretary for Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. — gave the Lawmakers a 2-0 lead.
The Lobbyists’ frustrations erupted in a short shoving match between an unidentified Lobbyist and Lawmakers captain Tim Regan, a senior assistant tally clerk from the Home Clerk’s Workplace.
Emmer, a Minnesota Republican and Home majority whip, obtained numerous enjoying time for the Lawmakers. Towards the top of the primary interval, Emmer obtained right into a extra playful shoving match throughout a faceoff towards lobbyist Brian Cohen of Cohen Strategic Alliances.
With the primary interval over and the Lawmakers up 4-0, the crew’s prime line gave the impression to be an excessive amount of for the Lobbyists to deal with.
Within the second interval, the Lawmakers grew their result in 7-0. Emmer assisted Skarupa on the crew’s sixth aim of the night time, sustaining the shutout regardless of quite a few makes an attempt by the Lobbyists to make it on the board.
On the prime of the third interval, Lobbyists co-captain Nick Lewis, senior vice chairman at UPS’ legislative affairs workplace, scored the crew’s first aim of the night time. Minutes later, Cohen and Tory “Sal” Mazzola, a communications government at Orstead, scored two extra targets for the Lobbyists.
With that mounting comeback, the Lobbyists pulled their goalie. Nonetheless, with one minute left, the Lawmakers’ Truman Reed, a legislative assistant with Texas GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz, tried to drive in a aim however was stopped when a Lobbyist threw a stick. Reed obtained a penalty shot and efficiently scored, giving the Lawmakers their eighth and remaining aim.
The occasion benefited the Skilled Girls’s Hockey Gamers’ Affiliation, the Fort Dupont Ice Hockey Membership, USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program, Capital Beltway Warriors Hockey program and the Tampa Warriors Hockey Heals occasion.
After the sport, Emmer, 61, stated that on the bench “politics don’t matter” and that he thinks he will probably be enjoying effectively into his 70s.
“For me, as you grow old, simply with the ability to come out and compete with these guys and have enjoyable and know that you just’re doing it for a trigger that issues, whether or not it’s Fort Dupont inner-city youth or the Wounded Warriors or ladies’s sports activities, it’s a fantastic trigger,” he stated.
Subsequent yr he needs the problem to be on an in-session day to get different members on the ice.
Lewis echoed Emmer’s feedback, saying, “I believe the scoreboard was deceptive. It’s a really aggressive sport, it’s plenty of enjoyable, however on the finish of it I’d’ve favored to have notched a Lobbyist victory right now, however the true winners are these charities.” When requested what the Lobbyists will do in another way subsequent yr, Lewis stated they’ll “attempt to get much less previous and fats.”
