Six teams emerged from the first day of Battle for the Blue Ox competition with one victory, solidifying their status as members of the Gold Bracket. 

However, White Bear Lake and Stillwater will enter Saturday as the only teams to have won two games. The Bears shut out Minneapolis 5-0 and edged Minnetonka 3-2, while Stillwater slipped past Minnetonka (BA) and Centennial, with both victories coming in nail-biting shootout fashion. 

The reward for having won twice on Friday? The Bears will face a red-hot Eden Prairie team that thumped Andover 6-0 behind a Hatty by Jackson Blake, and the Ponies will take on the Aviators of Grand Forks (ND), who cruised past Osseo-Maple Grove (BA) 11-0.

Stillwater may be kissed by fate, as Centennial had an insurance goal called back with just under three minutes to play, a goal that would have stretched the Cougars' lead to 4-2. Flush with new life, the Ponies tied the game in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and the subsequent shootout. 

Wayzata meets Cloquet in the Gold Bracket quarterfinals after downing Elk River 4-1, with the Lumberjacks blanking Chaska-Chanhassen 4-0 in their bout. Osseo-Maple Grove will face a defensively resilient Prior Lake squad in the first quarterfinal of the day, to be played at 11:15 a.m. at the Maple Grove Community Center.

Individually, Blaise Miller of Grand Forks (ND) leads all skaters with six points, scoring two goals and dishing out four assists in the Aviators' aforementioned 11-0 win over Osseo-Maple Grove (BA).