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Pumpkin: Friday Live Blog

By YHH Staff, 10/25/24, 1:15PM CDT

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Session notebooks from the opening day of this year's Pumpkin.

Big Pumpkin 2024

Little Pumpkin 2024

Session Two Notebook: Checking in with the top seeds


Colton Nash finished with six goals in Friday night's win over Mahtomedi.

Minnetonka 14, Mahtomedi 0 

For nearly eight minutes, Mahtomedi appeared unintimidated by the tournament’s top seed, routinely breaking into the Minnetonka zone and creating offensive chances.

Then Colton Nash scored on a blistering wrist shot, and everything exploded. 

The Skippers are fast and skilled, and when they get rolling, they ride the momentum wave like a mid-1990s Kelly Slater. Nash finished with six goals in the win, with Carter Crowley adding five points on a goal and four assists and Caleb Schultz totaling four helpers. 

Even without standout forward Donovan Klin, the Skippers are a wagon. They will face Andover in the Elite Eight.

Andover 8, Duluth East 7 (SO) 

Game of the Day hands down. 

The Huskies escaped a seesaw battle with the No. 8 seed Duluth East by converting during a spirited shootout. Blake Nelson continued his inspired play with two more goals for the Huskies, who got single goals from Stanley Sauer, Gavin Pietsch, Luke Talbot, Raymond Gerlach, Wyatt Hargadine, and Christian French. 

Connor Martinson racked up four goals and five points for Duluth East in the loss. Graeme Licari scored twice, and Max Mathias added a goal and an assist for the Hounds. 


Blake Nelson scored twice in Andover's win over Duluth East, giving him six goals and eight points through two games.

Woodbury 9, Eden Prairie 2 

If Woodbury is anything, it’s consistent. 

The fourth-seeded Predators scored three times in each period to cruise past Eden Prairie 9-2, thanks in large part to the four-goal performance of Jack Keiser. Wendel Fougner scored twice for Woodbury, and Tyeson Salscheider, Platon Tikhnenko, and Blaine Raaf chipped in one goal apiece. Salscheider led all skaters with five total points. 

Connor Ginal and this morning’s hero, Noah Adams, scored once for the Eagles in the loss. 

Chaska/Chanhassen 11, Cottage Grove 0 

After the No. 5 seed Stormhawks put the finishing touches on this afternoon’s win, several people walked out of Graham’s Rink 4 with the same observation - Chaska/Chanhassen could end up winning the whole darn thing this weekend. 

Player of the Game Wyatt Webster led the Stormhawks with a hat trick, but it was C/C’s depth that earned the spotlight. Colton Clark, Avery Lee, Holden McNabb, Miles Maruk, Benjamin Duda, Enzo Giannetti, and Cooper Lappi scored one goal, and Lappi and Clark registered two assists each. 


Chaska/Chanhassen's Colton Clark scored a goal and added two assists on Friday night.

Osseo-Maple Grove 7, St. Michael-Albertville 2 

After Zeke Perzhu gave second-seeded Osseo-Maple Grove a 2-0 lead after the first period on Friday night, STMA’s Devin Mork scored to open the second, giving the boys in blue and gold a glimmer of hope against the second-seeded Leafbirds. Gaborik Kohler scored less than two minutes later to make the score 3-1 Leafbirds, but the game still felt within reach for the Knights. 

Then Will Sivongsay and Brayden Dean scored in the final 30 seconds of the second frame, and that glimmer of hope turned into a mere memory as the Leafbirds tacked on two more in the third by Chase Anderson and Ben Carpenter for a 7-2 win. 

Mork scored his second goal of the game in the third, but it proved to be too little, too late. 

Blaine 5, Roseville 1 

Not only did the Bengals put five on the board against a talented Roseville team, but the Bengals also went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, a skill that will undoubtedly come in handy as the tournament progresses for the Bengals. 

Blake Kopesky netted a hat trick in the win for the Bengals, and Cooper Johnson and Joey Costa each scored once. Logan Stickney tallied a pair of assists for No. 7 seed Blaine in the win. 

Miles Murphy was the lone goal-scorer in the loss for Roseville, which will now navigate the Orange Bracket as the Bengals move forward in the Black Bracket. 


Blake Kopesky scored a hat trick on Friday night as the Bengals eased past Roseville 5-1.

Edina 6, Stillwater 1 

Scoreless after one period of play, Edina exploded for four goals in the second period en route to a decisive 6-1 win over defending Big Pumpkin champion Stillwater. 

Jameson Matushak scored twice in the win for the Hornets, who also got goals from Jack Podratz, Rylen Schneider, Brayden Hester, and Landon Sauer. Hester led all skaters with four points, adding three assists to his goal. 

Huck Teigen scored Stillwater’s only goal, and goaltender Oliver Bjork received glowing praise from several onlookers, including from the opposing Hornets. 

Rogers 4, Moorhead 3 

The No. 6 seed goes down as Rogers scores three times in the third period to capture a 4-3 upset over the Spuds and punch its ticket to the Elite Eight on Saturday. 

Hudson Lochner carried the Royals with a hat trick in the win, with Jesse Chalmers also scoring. Goaltender Mason Dooley stopped more than 30 shots for the second time in as many games on Friday, and the Royals were able to clamp down in crunch time to hold off the plucky Spuds. 


Hudson Lochner's hat trick led Rogers to an upset win over Moorhead to close out Friday night.

Session One Notebook

Boys just want to dance 

With 4:44 left in his Omaha Jr. Mavericks' 9-0 win over St. Michael-Albertville, Jr. Maverick Reid Oswald couldn't help himself. With the clock running and an upcoming face-off in the Omaha zone, Oswald heard the unmistakable horns signal the intro to House of Pain's 1991 megahit "Jump Around."

With the music thumping, Oswald did what any red-blooded Midwestern boy would do - he began to dance. Bouncing from side to side, Oswald provided a friendly reminder that no matter what the score is, we can all find a few seconds to appreciate the environment around us. 


Reid Oswald's dance - and his two goals and assist - made for an exciting Friday for the Omaha Jr. Mavericks.

Soderlind steals the show 

The rare female player among Peewees, Andover's Emma Soderlind was a highlight-reel early Friday morning, making more than 25 saves and keeping a talented Rochester team off the board in the game's final moments. With the win, the Huskies take a critical step in a crowded Pool A. 

Kellen Krenn makes history 

Technically, Wazyata Peewee A made history as a team, but goaltender Kellen Krenn was the star. Krenn stopped 31 of 33 shots as the Trojans edged two-time defending Little Pumpkin champion Woodbury 4-2 on Friday morning. The loss marks the first time a Woodbury Peewee A team has fallen short in a Little Pumpkin game. 


Eden Prairie tied White Bear Lake with 4:24 left in the third period, then Noah Adams scored in overtime to send the Eagles to the Round of 16.

Overtime thriller sends Eden Prairie to Big Pumpkin Round of 16 

It took 36 seconds and a puck moving slower than a three-legged tortoise, but Eden Prairie eked out a 5-4 overtime win over White Bear Lake, earning the right to face No. 4 seed Woodbury in the Round of 16. Noah Adams was credited with the game-winner, as the puck slid aimlessly through the White Bear Lake crease and slipped over the line. 

Andover Peewee AA howls at the scoring moon 

With two clicks, you can find the Big Pumpkin's scoring leaders all in one place. And for at least the first four names, the corresponding team will remain the same. 

Blake Nelson totaled six points, Gavin Pietsch tallied five, Rylan LaFlamme notched four, and Christian French recorded three as the Huskies rolled to a 14-3 win over Brainerd in the Big Pumpkin's opening round. As of now (1:07 PM), the Andover trio of Nelson, Pietsch, and LaFlamme are the Big Pumpkin's leading scorers. 


Andover's Ryan LaFlamme posted four points in the Huskies' win over Brainerd.


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