The Grand Forks Seawolves were held scoreless by Andover, ranked third in Peewee AA, in the first period and needed a spark to get back into the game after Gavyn Thoreson’s goal with 22 seconds left in the opening frame.

Cole Spicer stoked the fire with not one, or two, but four goals and six points to snare the Seawolves the Moose Goheen Peewee AA championship in a 6-3 victory over Andover Sunday night at the White Bear Lake Sports Center. 

Spicer dished a centering pass to Hunter Acker who scored past Andover goaltender Owen Peterson to put Grand Forks on the board with five minutes into the middle period. Spicer didn’t stop there and found the net twice in the middle period.

 His second goal was a bar-down beauty that rang in the unforgiving two-goal lead for the Seawolves. The lead was short-lived after Gavyn Thoreson called Spicer’s number and sniped bar-down past Grand Forks netminder Noah Burger for his second goal of the night, just 11 seconds later.

But Spicer showed no signs of cooling during the second intermission and was keen on chipping more paint off the post, lighting the lamp seven seconds into the final period after stealing the puck from a Huskies defender off the opening draw and banking the puck off the left post and in. 

Spicer used a backhand fake to lure Peterson to the left for an easy shorty that gave the Seawolves a commanding three-goal lead that Andover couldn’t cut into until the final minute of play when Logan Gravink netted a goal for Andover.

Burger stalled Andover in the final period by stopping 10 shots before Gravink’s goal. 

The Seawolves replied with an empty net goal where Spicer shook one defender and handed the puck off to Acker for his second goal of the game with two seconds remaining to put the finishing touches on Grand Forks’ championship triumph.

Cole Spicer, Grand Forks: A true marksman, Spicer’s balance of speed, stickhandling and dead-eye accuracy helped him play a hand in every Seahawks’ goal and prove that Grand Forks can skate with even the best of Peewee AA. He scored three of his four goals unassisted.

Gavyn Thoreson, Andover: Thoreson twice for the Huskies and was a menace to opposing defenders, utilizing a slick toe drag on numerous occasions to create enough space for an opportune shot.

Noah Burger, Grand Forks: Burger flashed a couple of swift glove saves in the first two periods, but was even more impressive in the third, showing his poise between the pipes when Andover was throwing everything it could on net.

Moose Goheen Bantam AA Tournament host White Bear Lake may not have been superstitious entering the weekend of their tournament, but the number 31 could stick with this group for some time.

Facing OMG goaltender Parker Slotsve, the Bears fired a relentless barrage of shots at Slotsve, with Sam Newpower finally cracking him at shot No. 31 by wristing the puck over Slotsve’s right shoulder with 31 seconds left in the middle period.

The onslaught continued in the final frame as White Bear Lake made its own luck and overpowered OMG 3-0 Sunday night to clinch the Moose Goheen Bantam AA title at the White Bear Lake Sports Center.

 The Bears, ranked second in Bantam AA, also upended top-ranked Edina 3-1 in pool play and asserted itself as the top-seed in the winners bracket.

White Bear Lake proved itself the dominant team from the opening draw, outshooting OMG 8-0 through the 8-minute mark before Bears netminder Tyler Steffens turned aside his first save.

OMG pieced together some scoring chances in the second period with the sides flipped, but Steffens was stalwart when he was needed, stopping seven shots in the middle frame and 13 total for the shutout.

No penalties were called which made for a steadfast pace that ultimately played into the paws of White Bear Lake who wore down OMG.

Starting center Cameron Berg caught Slotsve dazed and wrapped a goal around on his backhand to extend the Bears’ lead to two goals with 5:34 remaining in the game.

OMG pulled Slotsve in the final two minutes of play after a workmanlike 46-save performance.

Grant Hofeld applied the final layer of glaze to White Bear Lake’s trophy, finding twine on an empty-netter with a minute and a half remaining in the game. 

Parker Slotsve, Maple Grove: Nobody saw more of a workout than Slotsve who held his team together for nearly two entire periods. Slotsve remained poised while under heavy duress and made numerous diving, second-chance and all-around incredible saves, stopping 46 of 48 shots overall (.958 save percentage).

Sam Newpower, White Bear Lake: Newpower gave White Bear Lake the goal it was searching for before the final period which turned the momentum in the Bears favor and ultimately demoralized OMG. He showed patience on his goal while gliding through the slot and also had an assist on Hofeld’s empty-netter.

Tyler Steffens, White Bear Lake: Behind a top-ranked team, a goalie only needs to make the saves when they matter and Steffens pulled through, especially in the middle period where both teams had lengthy offensive possessions.