The final four is set. The Hockey Gods delivered hockey fans four great teams to the final four. Rosemount cruised into the semis with a 6-3 win over White Bear Lake. Osseo Maple Grove made it too. They needed a 3 goal burst capped off by a game winner by Tyler Oakland to beat Andover 3-2. Eden Prairie took care of business by sweeping their  pool 3 and 0 beating Rochester 6-3 to advance.

The only mystery left was the Wild Card. Would it be Eastview (who defeated Rochester earlier) or the Edina/Andover winner? In the Edina – Andover game Andover got up early 2-0. But one characteristic of a Jason Williams’ coached team is tenacity. His kids don’t quit. They plugged and plugged…cutting it to 2-1 in the second…and then halfway thought the third, Cole Cavanagh tied it for twe Hornets at 2-2. From that point on, the rest of the game was played like OT…both teams knowing after 5+ periods of hockey today, that the next goal would be the winner. Andover applied pressure and finally got a loose puck on the stick of Husky star Kyle Kron who buried the game winner…final score 3-2 Andover.

Andover  advances on the 4th tiebreaker over surprising Eastview. Both teams were 2-1, both teams had a five goal differential – Andover allowed fewer goals and advance. That is the good news. The bad news is they have to play #1 seed and #1 rated Rosemount in the semifinals. In the other semifinal, EP will try to take out OMG.

YHH sees OMG and Rosemount in the Final, with a slight edge to Rosemount. A rematch of a great game last fall at the Velocity 3 on 3 semifinal.

Wow play of the day:  The Sam Newpower-less White Bear Lake Bears were  battling Rosemount. Late in the second period, the Bears scrapped and clawed  their way to 5-3!  Enter Kyle “Moose” Heffron…he takes the proceeding face off the length of the ice and fired a howitzer past the WBL goalie. As if to say, “that’s as close as you are going to get White Bear.”

Give the Bears credit, they continued to battle all the way to the end. Watch out for number 3 for the Bears Chaz Lucious…this kid is dynamite (small but explosive).

Saturday Scores:

(White)

Rosemount > Elk River (7-0),  White Bear > Minnetonka (6-3), Elk River > Minnetonka (4-2) and Rosemount > White Bear (6-3)

(Red)

Edina > Eagan (8-2), OMG > Andover (3-2), OMG > Eagan (6-0), and Andover > Edina (3-2)

(Black)

Eastview > Rochester (6-3), Eden Prairie > Rochester (6-3),  and Eastview > Centennial (4-2)