The first day of the NOW Prospects Minor combine included participation in a number of different exercises, from morning check-ins, to a bus ride across the metro to Stillwater, to highly-competitive games of ultimate frisbee.  

Players met new teammates for five days' worth of activities, practiced at the St. Croix Valley Rec Center, slogged through a dryland workout at the LumberYard, and powered through two games of the aforementioned ultimate frisbee at TCF Bank Stadium. The frisbee battles took on a life of their own after the first few minutes, with players dueling individually and as respective teams across the turf.  

The late afternoon featured a seminar on playing strategy with University of Minnesota Assistant Coach Scott Bell, and a game of two 25-minute halves played at Ridder Arena, in which Grey took on Gold and Maroon battled White.  

As if ultimate frisbee wasn't enough, Grey and Gold treated themselves to a seesaw battle in the first game of the afternoon, with Grey coming out on top 5-3, scoring the final two goals of the game. 

Gold struck first with a goal by Raymond Walen, who would torment the Grey defense for the bulk of the game. Grey answered with goals from Danny Nelson and Andrew Karkoc before Gold's Gavin Anderson knotted the game at 2-2. 

Gavin Connor scored two of the next three goals for Grey, including the insurance goal to make the score 5-3. Sandwiched between Connor's goals was a tally by Grey's John Halverson and a score from Gold's Jayden Veney. 

While managing to force just four (barely) shots on goal during the first half, White exploded for five goals in the second frame en route to a resounding 5-1 win over Maroon to close out the first day of competition. 

White's offense may have stolen the show in the second half, but the game's top performance could arguably go to goaltender Dane Callaway, who flipped and flopped his way to a perfect first half with several highlight-reel saves. 

Maroon kicked off the second half with a goal by Lucas Kickhofel, breaking a scoreless tie and providing the spark White apparently needed to get going. Five players scored goals for White in the ensuing offensive barrage, with scorers including Will Zellers, Jordan Geike, Eli Boden, Alex Lunski, and Jimmy Zavoral. Zavoral also added two assists in the win.  

Dane Callaway, White

Callaway rejected every shot he faced in Wednesday's win over Maroon, posting a shutout during his half of the game with multiple acrobatic stops.  

John Halverson, Grey

A slippery skater, Halverson was a handful for Gold on Wednesday with his work below the dots in the offensive zone. 

Lucas Kickhofel, Maroon 

Zigged and zagged through White defenders on Wednesday, created his own chances and capitalized on a beautiful breakaway move for his team's lone goal of the game.

Nolan Barker, White

Powerful defender excels at shooting with a heavy hand, and made an impressive run up the ice to help spark the White victory.

Raymond Walen, Gold

A pesky forward, Walen creates problems fro defenses by being able to dart between players with a contact eye on the play developing around him.