The top two teams, No. 1AA Osseo Maple Grove and No. 2AA Edina,  lined up for a mid-season scrimmage Monday marking the first time they played since the Big Pumpkin Championship game in Moorhead. Since then, OMG hasn't lost in 16 games and the Hornets have a loss and a tie in 16 games. Both teams have won impressively in two tournaments since. 

With a gap between these two teams and the third best team, Eden Prairie, the teams locked up for a really fast paced hour of play at the outdoor rink at Braemar in Edina. The ice was as fast as the players. The teams moved the puck well and the battles for loose pucks were hotly contested.

Six minutes into the game after some extended pressure, OMG got on the board when Brandon Reller punched home a rebound to give them the lead. The rest of the period was high paced back and forth hockey, with the slight edge to OMG.

In the second, the Leafbirds took control winning more and more puck battles and sustaining pressure - on one exchange they held the puck in the Edina zone for over two minutes getting three line changes on the short side suffocating Edina's unit without a change. The good news for Edina, OMG didn't score...the bad news it sent a message that the Leafbirds came to play.  The play of the game came halfway through, OMG caught Edina in transition. On a three on two Brock Faber took a pass from Justin Janicke and held it long enough to free the Andrews while he slid it back to a streaking Janicke who sniped it past Andrews who had no chance. That gave OMG the lead 2-0 after 2.

In the third period, OMG controlled play for most of the period winning races by the slightest of margin each time, chipping pucks deep and keeping the high powered Hornet forwards (Borst, Lund, Bisson) on the perimeter. The game plan for the Leafbirds was working to perfection until the final two minutes and then it came partially unglued and almost fell totally apart. Evan Pahos took the puck end to end, it almost looked like a Mite Jamboree for a minute. He skated through three OMG defenders untouched and then beat OMG goalie Jack Wieneke to cut the lead to 2-1 with 2:46 to play. 

Just like that, a very nice fast paced up and down game became chaotic for both teams. Edina pulled Andrews and OMG had a couple chances to ice the game but didn't and Edina pressured Wieneke and he did just enough to seal the win for the Leafbirds.

Scoresheet

Period 1: Goal, OMG, Reller (Barbour, Jacobs) - PIM (OMG = 2, Edina = 0)

Period 2: Goal, OMG, Janicke (Faber) - PIM (OMG = 2, Edina = 2_

Period 3: Goal, Edina, Pahos (Unassisted) - PIM (OMG = 4, Edina 2)

Shots on Goal: OMG 20, Edina 16