Rocherster Red beats Sibley 3-1

Sibley came with their big guns and balanced offensive lines and the Red showed up to play defense.  The defense won.  Sibley had only 8 shots on goal deep into the third period.  Their top line had three pipers and the Warriors made the game exciting scoring with five minutes left to cut the Red's lead to 2-1.  Rochester's third goal was an empty netter.

Two minutes into the first period, and still no shots were posted on the scoreboard.  Both teams focused on defense.  Sibley came the closest to getting the first SOG hitting the left pipe on a rush and got their first SOG a minute later.  Six minutes into the first, the Red finally put the puck on the net.

At the nine minute mark a Sibley 2-on-1 rush resulted in a Sibley penalty.  Twenty seconds later, the Red had their first SOG.  Sibley killed that penalty in part by letting Brandon McFadden skate up and down the ice.  McFadden killed the last minute of the Red's power play skating away from Red players.

Late in the period, Sibley drew another penalty.  The Red set up in the Warrior's zone and worked the puck to the point to a defenseman at the blue line.  He blistered a shot on the net that was slightly deflected in front of the net left into the net just clearing the left pipe.  The period ended with the Red leading 1-0 and leading in SOGs 4-1.

The second period was fast paced, Rochester got the initial pressure getting the puck into the Sibley zone and ending up with a couple of point blank shots that were cleared by the Sibley defense.  At the ten minute mark, Sibley had a great scoring chance down low when McFadden picked up the puck in the left slot and put a wrist shot on Rochester's goal that beat the goalie and hit the pipe.  It was Sibley's third piper in the first two periods.

Late in the period, the Red drew a holding penalty.  It gave the Warriors their best chance to score.  Sibley set up in the Red zone and moved the puck well, but the Red defense stymied the Sibley forwards down low.  The Red defense couldn't clear the puck, but they kept the Warriors from putting the puck on the net.  The period ended with the score still 1-0 and the Red still leading in SOGs 12-5.

Sibley brought pressure to the Red in the opening minutes of the third period.  For the first three minutes, they controlled the play only to have Rochester develop a 2-on-1 rush and score.  It was questioned as to did the puck cross the goal line and was ruled a goal.  The score put the Red up 2-0.  It was the winning goal.

At the twelve minute mark, Rochester drew a needless penalty on a breakaway that was already contained.  Twenty seconds after they killed that penalty, the Red drew a slash.  They killed the second penalty.  After four minutes of power play and trailing 2-0, Sibley had managed only three more shots on goal and no real pressure.  Rochester's defense played a great game.

The Warriors looked beat and at the five minute mark they caught a break.  On a Sibley rush, the Red defense had forced the puck wide to the left of the Red net.  Sibley's Luke Williams one timed a shot slid soft along the ice and deflected into the net.  Nick Davison got the assist.  Sibley trailed 2-1 and got a new burst of energy. but the Red defense just augered down and shut out the Warriors in the final five minutes.  The Red's Dustin Sorensen scored an empty netter in the final minute to end the scoring 3-1.

Edina beats Osseo/Maple Grove 6-3

The Hornets came out fired up scoring four goals in the first seven minutes of the opening period.  Edina was headed on a path to turn the game into a runaway.  

The first period opened with Edina's Grant Sillanoff scoring two goals in the first two minutes.  The first goal came 90 seconds into the period, the second goal was scored 10 seconds later and came off a big rebound into the slot.  Sillanoff took the rebounding puck left beating the Crimson's goalie before he could recover from the right with a high shot on the left side.  Liam Malmquist assisted on both scores.

Three minutes later, the Hornets' Mike Vorlicky scored to put Edina up 3-0.  Two minutes later, the Hornets' Mason Nevers put the fourth goal through the goalie to give Edina a 4-0 lead with eight minutes gone in the period.

Then OMG called timeout.

Edina was slowed by penalties over the last half of the opening period.  OMG couldn't score on the power play, but with a minute left in the period, a Crimson shot on the net beat Edina's goalie to cut the lead to 4-1.  The period ended that way.  OMG's goal caught everybody by surprise.

The second period opened the same way the first period did.  With just under two minutes into the period, Sillanoff scored again to put the Hornets up 5-1; but it took him five more minutes to get the second goal of the period.  Edina led 6-1 and appeared ready to turn the third period into running time.

But a minute after Edina scored, OMG came back to score on a long shot from the right boards that was tipped on the way to the net to cut the Hornets' lead to 6-2.  Late in the second period, OMG scored again to cut the lead to 6-3.  For all the scoring, OMG outshot the Hornets 14-10 through the first two periods.  OMG outshot the Hornets in the first two periods and outshot them in the game 23-19; but eight of the 19 Edina shots came in the waining minutes of the third period.

It was a strange first two periods, so how would it end?  The third period opened with both teams playing cautiously.  Three minutes into the period, each had put one shot on net.  OMG had a couple of good scoring opportunities, but neither team could score and OMG was starting to get the better chances.  Halfway through the last period, OMG had outshot the Hornets 19-11 for the game.

The final minutes of the game were almost anticlimatic, no real urgency.  OMG pushed the Hornets at times, but Edina really didn't roll on offense until the last two minutes of the game.  The game ended with Edina up 6-3.

The Hornets play Rochester Red in the championship game 2:00 PM Sunday.  Sibley and OMG play for third place at noon.