FBI, Secret Service duke it out on the ice

By Simon Hernandez-Arthur, CNN

The FBI and the Secret Service have held annual hockey games for more than 10 years.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• FBI, Secret Service face off in annual hockey game
• Secret Service wins in overtime
• Organizers say all 2,500 tickets were sold

Washington (CNN) -- It might be one of the most intense rivalries in sports.

It's not the Yankees and the Red Sox, or the Cowboys and the Redskins, but the FBI and the Secret Service.

Their hockey teams clashed on the ice Saturday night in their annual match.

The two teams, made up of agents from the different organizations, have been playing against each other for more than 10 years. They raise money for different charitable causes for either FBI or Secret Service agents.

This year, organizers asked for a $5 donation from attendants, with the money raised going to Keith Rile, a Secret Service agent diagnosed with cancer.

"The FBI is a family; the Secret Service is a family. We work together every day of the year, and one day we come together to have this friendly rivalry," FBI director Robert Mueller told CNN. "We're all here to support him and support his family"

Mueller, who played hockey during his college years at Princeton University, faced off against special agent James Meehan of the Secret Service in a ceremonial puck drop before the game.

The Secret Service scored twice and took an early lead, to loud cheers from the stands which were packed with friends and families of the players, as well as other employees of the two agencies. The FBI tied the game soon afterward, but they were constantly on the defensive.

The match came down to the last minute of the first overtime period. With 58 seconds left on the clock, the Secret Service scored the tie-breaking goal that ended the game. The final score was 7-6.

"It's never an easy win," said Todd Nassoiy, one of the special agents playing for the Secret Service team. The Secret Service also won last year, but only after a tense shootout. The FBI won the year before that in overtime.

The match was played at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia, and organizers said all 2,500 tickets were sold.