Big Pumpkin 
Woodbury vs. Osseo-Maple Grove  

Woodbury scored two goals in the opening period and then held on for dear life in the final minutes to knock off the Big Pumpkin's top-seeded team on Saturday night. Jack Keiser scored twice in the win of the Predators and finished with three points, as did Tyeson Salscheider thanks to a goal and two assists. Riley Paitich and Platon Tikhnenko also scored for the Predators. 

Colton Nash scored two goals and assisted on another for the Skippers. His second goal of the game pulled Minnetonka within two late in regulation, and his assist on Carter Crowley's goal made it a one-goal contest with just 1:58 to play before the Woodbury defense shut down the threat.

Osseo-Maple Grove scored four times in the third period for an 8-5 win over Edina in the other semifinal, setting up a date between the Predators and Leafbirds in Sunday's finale. Brayden Dean scored four goals for the Leafbirds, including two in the third period, and Gaborik Kohler finished with five points. Wes Grossman added two goals and four points in the win for the Osseo-Maple Grove.  

Orange Bracket 
Mahtomedi (3-1) vs. Moorhead (2-1)

Mahtomedi topped Duluth East 3-1 and Eden Prairie 4-2 on Saturday, earning its way into the Orange Bracket final with a pair of clutch, close victories. Mason Unkelsbay, Gioffre Rogosheske, and Owen Coffey each scored in the win over the Hounds, while Liam Regan led the charge against Eden Prairie with two goals. Regan and Coffey each added a goal in the win over the Eagles. 

After being upset by Rogers on Friday night, Moorhead has picked up two wins, beating Stillwater 4-1 and muscling past St. Michael-Albertville 5-3. Bode Ferrie, Tate Bergeson, Trew Sando, and Henry Corwin each scored once against the Ponies, with Sando and Corwin's goals cementing the win in the third period. 

In the win over STMA, it was the Moorhead defense in crunch time that saved the day, as Mason West and Wesley Cooper pulled the Knights scored 17 seconds apart to pull the Knights within two with five minutes left in the game. Henry Corwin and Trew Sando each recorded three points in the win for the Spuds.

White Bracket 
White Bear Lake (2-1) vs. Prior Lake (2-1) 

White Bear Lake punched its ticket to the White Bracket final after pulling off the comeback of the weekend, scoring FIVE times in the final four minutes of regulation to force overtime. The Bears then topped Wayzata 6-5 in the extra session on Emmett O'Leary's hat trick-clinching goal. In their first game of the day, the Bears downed host Rochester 6-2 behind hat tricks from Easton Estby and Johan Fondrk. 

Like White Bear Lake, Prior Lake needed extra time to earn its way into the bracket final, edging Centennial in a thrilling shootout on Saturday evening. Jack Flaig and Mason Solarz were the goal-scorers in regulation for the Lakers, and Tate Ulrich scored the game-winner in the shootout.

Earlier Friday, the Lakers defeated Rosemount 5-2 behind an impressive showing of depth, with five players marking the scoresheet for the Irish. Those players were Dalton Schwarze, Tate Ulrich, Connor Blanchette, Jack Flaig, and Henry Stiehm.

Little Pumpkin 
Osseo-Maple Grove (4-0) vs. Chaska/Chanhassen (4-0)

Osseo-Maple Grove will have a chance to go for two on Sunday, as the Peewee A Leafbirds romped their way to the title game with a 13-0 win over Rochester. Emmitt McDowell, Leo Starkey, and Jacob McElroy lead the Leafbirds in scoring, all tied at nine points apiece. The OMG defense and goaltender Jon Bakker have not allowed a goal in four games. 

Chaska/Chanhassen has also been defensive through four games, allowing just a single goal in each contest. Brady Brandt leads the Stormhawks with nine points, followed by Cam Alrich (eight points) and Easton Nichols and Sawyer Little with seven points each. The Stormhawks topped Woodbury 6-1 to capture the top spot in Pool B. 

An ode to the hockey tournament hotel lobby 

Hotel lobbies are, as a rule, sterile tombs of transaction. They appear decorated by a soulless Pottery Barn imposter and inhabited by robots beaten down after years of harassment to the point where their first instinct in social interactions is to ask, “How may I help you?”

But come fall, when the leaves change and breath comes out like fog, color returns to the assorted hotels in Rochester, especially after a hockey tournament’s first day ends. 

The sounds of clinking glasses, aluminum can bottoms hitting tabletops, and the rhythmic laughter and silence as the team captain’s dad finishes a story about a game or a bus ride long ago. Young hotel staffers have strained smiles as they watch the social chaos unfold. 

Veteran hotel employees chat with those milling about the lobby, experienced from years of these gatherings and enthused by the fact that by the end of the evening, more than a few twenty-dollar bills smelling of domestic light beer will make their way into their pockets - maybe a fifty if an Edina team is undefeated. 

Elevators ping continuously, adolescents bursting from the doors at every stop as they dodge and chase each other through carpeted hallways and tiled vending areas. For those visiting Rochester’s world-famous Mayo Clinic or in town for some convention that includes a name tag and two free drink tickets, these hockey players are easy to spot. They wear matching sweatshirts, joggers, and toques, even indoors. They sprint to tables of adults, asking to stay up later, what time they play tomorrow, and for money. 

In a few short hours, this same roving circus of humans will migrate back to the four-sheet Graham Arena Complex, coffees in hand. They will move in packs of matching team colors, waving at new friends from the previous evening, exchange phone numbers, and probably discuss vague plans of doing it all again on Saturday.

Then they will disperse. Players will move to locker rooms, and parents will head to the concession stand or the parking lot for nice cold orange juice. They will melt back into competition mode for the rest of the day, primarily concerned with team and player performance on the ice. 

But for the rest of the season, even when the weather turns dark, they’ll always have the memory of that hotel lobby.  

Big Pumpkin
Black Bracket  

Minnetonka, Woodbury punch semifinal tickets 

More of the same from Minnetonka today, as the Skippers pick up their second shutout of the tourney with a 7-0 win over Andover. Colton Nash led the way with four goals for the Skippers, giving him a tourney-leading 10 goals through two games. 

The Woodbury duo of Jack Keiser and Tyeson Salscheider led the Predators to the semifinals after a 7-1 win over Chaska/Chanhassen, combining for eight points. Keiser's and Salscheider's stat lines are perfect mirrors of each other, with Keiser's hat trick and assist complementing Salscheider's goal and three helpers.

Leafbirds and Hornets will go head-to-head in semifinals 

Osseo-Maple Grove scored three times in the third period to pull away from Blaine for a 7-2 victory, earning a spot in the coveted Big Pumpkin semifinals. Wes Grossman paced the Leafbirds with a hat trick in the win, while Blaine's Cooper Johnson scored both goals for the Bengals. 

Awaiting OMG will be Edina, which shook off a Rogers goal 36 seconds into the first period and cruised to a 7-2 win. The Hornets scored six of their seven goals on rebounds, showcasing an ability to buzz the net and capitalize on second and third chances. Chase Williamson and Jameson Matushak each scored twice in the win for the Hornets. 

White Bear Lake completes comeback for the ages

With 4:14 to play in regulation, White Bear Lake found itself in a 5-0 hole against Wayzata. The Bears had already suffered the emotional whiplash of an overtime loss in the opening round against Eden Prairie. A 1-2 record heading into Sunday seemed inevitable. 

However, with the clock running after a five-goal deficit had been reached, White Bear Lake went on a scoring rampage that sent the game to overtime tied 5-5, then Emmett O'Leary's third goal of the game clinched the win for the Bears. 

I'm not sure if bears can perform magic, but the boys in black and orange did one hell of a trick on Saturday afternoon. 

Little Pumpkin 
Osseo-Maple Grove, Chaska/Chanhassen on collision course

Two of the state's largest co-ops have combined for a 6-0 record so far in pool play (as of 1:12 PM) and show no signs of slowing down before Sunday's championship. 

Osseo-Maple Grove has yet to surrender a goal, beating Omaha 7-0, Andover 7-0, and St. Michael-Albertville 14-0 on Saturday. Leo Starkey and Jacob McElroy are tied for the Leafbird scoring lead with eight points apiece, and every player on the roster has registered at least one point. 

Chaska/Chanhassen has also been staunch defensively, allowing just one goal in each of its three games. Easton Nichols, Cam Alrich, and Brady Brandt are in a three-way tie for the team lead with six points each.