All the periods were 14 minutes long.  The clock was stopped every time the ref blew his whistle.  It made the game last longer than one hour, the normal game time for squirt games.

The teams skated slow in the first three minutes of the opening period.  One team would get the puck and pass it out of their zone to a teammate, but the other team would knock the puck off their stick.

With four minutes gone in the period, Rosemount started to carry the puck past the Crimson players in the neutral zone.  They would skate to the outside of the OMG net and try to pass the puck to an Irish player in the front of the OMG net, an area called the slot.  Most of the time, the Crimson defenders would knock the puck away before an Irish player could shoot.

But as the game continued, the Irish finally connected on the play.  An Irish player skated into the OMG zone on the goalie’s right side.  The goalie moved over to the right side of the crease.  The Irish player passed the puck to Mason Wheeler on the left side of the crease.  Mason shot the puck high into the open net as the OMG goalie Cooper Olson tried to stop the puck.  Mason got the goal and Tommy Shandorf got the assist.  The Irish led 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the period.

With seven minutes left in the period, OMG tied the game.  The Crimson scored because the Crimson defense on the right side would not let the Irish forwards clear the zone.  The defense took the puck away and passed the puck to the end boards to the right of the Irish net. 

The Crimson’s Kyle Kukkonen took the puck at the end boards and skated past the Irish defenders to the crease on the right side.  He shot and the Irish goalie Hunter Sandnas made the save, but the puck rebounded back to Kyle.  Kyle put the second shot into the net to tie the score 1-1.  Justin Janicke got the assist.

The Irish forwards like to rush the puck as a line.  They do that very well.  A minute later, the Irish forwards rushed the puck across the Crimson blue line.  The forward on the left was carrying the puck.  He shot from the faceoff circle.  The puck rebounded off Crimson Goalie Cooper Olson to the slot (the area in front of the net).

There, Mason Wheeler picked up the rebounding puck and shot it into the net as he crashed into a Crimson defender.  The goal was the game winning goal for Rosemount.  The Irish led 2-1.  Jake Ratzlaff got the assist. With four minutes left in the first period, Osseo/Maple Grove got control of the puck in the Irish zone and passed the puck neatly around the zone.  But the Crimson forwards could not get the good shot.

When Rosemount got a checking penalty with three minutes left in the period, the Crimson attacked the Rosemount goalie trying to get that good shot.  Then OMG got a penalty for roughing. 

The teams were skating 4-on-4 in the Rosemount zone when two Irish forwards broke out.  The forward carrying the puck skated wide to the right side of the Crimson goal.  The other Irish forward skated towards the slot in front of the Crimson goal.  The puck carrier made a pass to the Irish forward in the slot, Tommy Shandorf. 

Tommy took the puck under pressure from a Crimson defender and shot it high.  The puck hit the Crimson goalie Cooper Olson in the left shoulder and bounced into the net.  Rosemount led 3-1.  Tommy got the goal.  Kyle Heffron got the assist.  No more goals would be scored in the game.

The second period opened with the Crimson on the attack.  Their forwards were successful in passing the puck through the neutral zone.  As a result, they were always getting control of the puck in the Irish zone.  But the bigger Irish players would take it away and clear the zone before they could get a good shot.

When the Crimson did get a good shot, Rosemount’s goalie Hunter Sandnas would make a good save.  Hunter played a good game.

The last 5 minutes of the second period were mostly played in the Rosemount zone.  But nobody could score.  Both goalies made good saves, but Hunter made more saves.  OMG put 8 shots on the net in the period and Hunter saved them all.  Rosemount put 3 shots on the OMG goal.

The second period ended with the score 3-1.  Rosemount led.

The teams moved the puck faster in the third period.  Both teams skated faster.

Rosemount started the third period attacking the Crimson goal.  The Irish had some great chances to score.  But it was Cooper Olson’s turn to make good saves.  He did.

With nine minutes to play in the third period, the Crimson started to go after the puck in the Rosemount zone.  They focused less on defending against the Rosemount attack.

Often Osseo/Maple Grove would take the puck away from Rosemount in the neutral zone and carry or pass it into the Irish zone.  But the OMG forwards could not beat the Irish defenders and position themselves for a shot.

With two minutes to play, OMG pulled their goalie and tried to get the puck into the Irish zone.  But they had difficulty and lost control of the puck.  That would force the Crimson to reform in the neutral zone and attack again.  They lost the game 3-1, but outshot the Irish 10-4 in the third period.

It was a good game.  The Irish really know how to rush the puck and they have size.  Rosemount is a good team. Osseo/Maple Grove is a good passing team.  They know how to move the puck, but they had problems getting good shots on the net.

Both goalies played well.  Rosemount did some great back checking and that was one of the reasons they won the game.