By Chris Del Vecchio

Worcester, Mass. - Prior to the Worcester Sharks versus Providence Bruins AHL hockey match up on Saturday, the Worcester Fire and Worcester Police Departments competed in the first annual Guns & Hoses game at the DCU Center. Team Fire would prevail by a score of 2-1.

The teams skated scoreless until midway through the first period, when Mike Gervais gave the Police squad a 1-0 lead when he one-timed a centering feed from teammate Fran Bartley past Fire netminder John Nicholson. Less than a minute later, the Guns nearly doubled their lead when Bartley blasted a lingering rebound off the mask of Nicholson, but the puck deflected wide of the cage and the 1-0 score stood into the second period.

A tripping minor against the Police’s Pat Cherry just one minute into the middle frame gave team Fire their second power play of the night, and the Hoses capitalized when Tom McLaughlin buried the puck past Police goaltender Tim Pageau from the doorstep to tie the game at 1-1. The Firemen dodged a bullet from the Police when Bartley flicked a breakaway wrister off the crossbar, and the Fire squad responded by capitalizing on a goalmouth scramble at the 5:20 mark of the second period to take their first lead of the game. Tom Fitman notched the tally with an assist from Pat Moran.

Team Fire held strong on three Police power plays in the stanza and carried their 2-1 lead into the third period. Five minutes into the third, Police forward Joe Scampini had a chance to pull his squad even, but Nicholson came up with a huge breakaway save for Fire to preserve the one goal lead. Pageau answered with a breakaway stop of his own, robbing McLaughlin’s backhand try to keep the Police close with just four minutes to play. His efforts proved in vain, however, as the Bravest withstood a late empty-net rush from the Finest to claim the victory.

The game served as a joint fundraiser for both the Police and Fire Departments as well as the Worcester Sharks in support of the city’s “Save Our Summer” campaign, which funds operating costs for city-run public pools during the summer months. On behalf of Sharks Charities and Mary DeFeudis, the Sharks donated $2 of every group ticket and ticket sold at the door to the "Save Our Summer" program.