The Lake Erie Monsters traveled out to St. Mary of the Woods Assisted Living Home in Avon, Ohio, Tuesday with one goal in mind: revenge.

Last year, the St. Mary of the Woods Battling Beagles noodle hockey team took a convincing 10-5 win against an under matched Monsters opponent, and this year’s team was out to even the record.

Playing with styrofoam swimming noodles as sticks, a beach ball substituting the rubber puck and using walkers in the place of traditional four-by-six nets, the Battling Beagles faced off against Mike Bartlett, Matt Ford, Travis Gawryletz, Derek Peltier and Randy Rowe of the Monsters.

After pregame ceremonies that included player introductions, the national anthem and some noise from the Beagles cheerleading section, the teams squared off just after the two o’clock hour in the afternoon.

Staring down the opposition – the two teams sat in rows of five directly across from each other, approximately 18 inches apart– the Beagles and Monsters played a grueling, labor-intense game that lasted over an hour.

For a second straight year, leadership and experience proved to be the key ingredients for a noodle hockey win, and the Beagles cruised to a 12-5 victory.

“The better team won,” exclaimed Rose Burkhardt, a member of the Battling Beagles.

For their efforts, Burkhardt and the Beagles were awarded the championship trophy. Passing it around from teammate to teammate, the Beagles even allowed the Monsters to touch the award, making sure they knew what they missed out on for a second consecutive year.

“They’re tough competitors,” said Peltier. “You can tell they’ve been practicing, and I think the ref may have been on their side,” he joked.

Despite the heated rivalry, the teams gathered at the end of the intense competition to shake hands and take pictures. To ease the pain of their loss, and their all-time record against the Beagles falling to 0-2, the Beagles treated the Monsters to and enjoyed root beer floats with their archrivals.

With a pair of crucial games against Eastern Conference opponents this weekend, Monsters fans can only hope their team has learned from its noodle hockey defeat and will apply the lessons learned in future hockey contests, whether the game is played with a stick or styrofoam noodle.

Highlights and analysis from the noodle hockey game will air during the Monsters February 27th contest against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The game, a 7:30 p.m. start, will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Ohio and the NHL Network.