The Connor Schubert Show 

A more diligent soul may comb through Blue Ox records to find the highest number of goals scored in a single game, but for now, we’ll decide that Connor Schubert set a new record on Friday. 

The high-flying forward for Rosemount tickled the twine five times in the Irish’s 6-1 win over the Hibbing-Chisholm squad, including a pure hat trick in the game’s opening period. Schubert finished off his five-spot with a pair of third-period tallies that helped cement the win for the Irish. 

Cinderella lives just west of the Twin Ports…and also near the Canadian border 

Hermantown found itself slotted in the play-in round when brackets were first released to the general public. The Hawks ultimately decided they had little taste to remain on the left side of the map, and edged a talented West Fargo team 4-2 on Friday morning. 

Noah Thurston, Kole Lendzyk, T.J. Wojtysiak, and Beau Christy each notched one goal in the win for the Hawks over the Stampede. 

Friday evening, Hermantown weathered the storm of White Bear Lake, scoring twice after the Bears came within one goal of tying the contest to emerge with an entertaining 6-3 victory. Lendzyk continued his strong Friday with a trio of assists in the Hawks’ win over the No. 4 overall seed. 

On Friday, Warroad did what Warroad does - skate and score. Warroad edged Bismarck 4-3 in a shootout in the morning thanks to Rodrick Jackson’s heroics and then pulled away from Centennial late for a 6-3 win to earn a place in the quarterfinals out of the play-in group. Ricky Rogers was named Player of the Game in game two, scoring a goal and adding an assist while playing a heavy two-way game for three periods. 

Shootouts heighten the Moorhead mood 

Games make heroes, but shootouts make legends. That’s not an opinion - that’s 100% pure, organic, grass-fed fact. 

Rodrick Jackson’s swooping goal gave Warroad a thrilling 4-3 win over Bismarck, which held a 3-2 lead as late in the game as the third period before Warroad’s Gavin Anderson knotted the contest with 11:09 to play. Finn Hanson played the shutdown role for Warroad, snagging the last shootout attempt by the Capitals. 

Mahtomedi added its own magic touch on Friday, battling back from being down 4-1 against a cohesive Fargo Freeze group. The Zephyrs’ Brock Gutterman scored the game-winner in the shootout’s sixth (or seventh) round, squeezing the puck past Fargo’s Domnick Crocker and sending Big Maht to the quarterfinal round. 

Finn Spehar is a dangerous, dangerous man 

With 2:45 to play in regulation, Spehar’s Minnetonka Skippers trailed pesky Rosemount 5-3. With an upset on their collective mind, the Irish withstood charge after charge from the Skippers, with goaltender Drew Sherman routinely turning away and hanging onto a variety of Minnetonka shots. 

Adhering to his coaches’ pleading for shots on goal, Spehar rolled to the top of the Rosemount zone on the power play. In one motion, he loaded the puck, turned, and fired a shot that was tipped past Sherman to pull the Skippers within one. Certainly not enough for Spehar, he would score two more goals with great individual efforts to give the Skippers a 6-5 come-from-behind victory. 

In that final 2:45, Finn Spehar wrote himself into Blue Ox lore, joining the others who have made the tournament with the blue trophy their personal stage.

Leaders emerge in Bantam A Division  

Through one full day of play, three teams have emerged from the crowded Bantam A girls with spotless 2-0 records in pool play.

In Pool A, Osseo-Maple Grove topped West Fargo 6-1 and Blaine 3-1, thanks largely to the offensive output of Gavin Ronnie, Aiden Carrithers, and Kaleb Schlotz. The trio recorded six goals, with each player scoring twice on Friday. Grand Forks Blue is also 2-0 after Friday’s slate, eking out a 4-3 win over Blaine and a 6-2 win over West Fargo, setting up a highly anticipated showdown with Osseo-Maple Grove on Saturday morning. Ryne Richeau led the Aviators in scoring with four goals and five points on the day. 

The third 2-0 team is White Bear Lake, which blanked Pool B foes Moorhead and Grand Forks Red by identical 2-0 scores. Hank Stuemke scored twice in the Bears’ win over Moorhead, while Wyatt Raleigh and William Connors each scored once in the win over Grand Forks Red. Goaltenders TJ Neill and Jack Wegleightner were dynamite between the pipes today for White Bear Lake.