Game One: New England 1, Rocky Mountain 0

Bright, early, and slightly below freezing at ice level, six teams piled into Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis for a three-game slate Thursday morning. 

Meeting in the first game of the day were undefeated squads Rocky Mountain and New England, with Rocky Top boasting a record of 3-0 entering the game and New England at 2-0. Like a pair of steamrolling undefeated teams, the groups smashed into one another for the bulk of the game, with the lone exception being a New England goal by Aaron Obobaifo midway through the second period. 

Obobaifo powered his way past the Rocky Mountain defense and beat goaltender Harry Boettiger on his backhand for the game's lone goal. For his efforts at both ends of the rink, Obobaifo was named Player of the Game. 

 Game Two: Team Minnesota 6, Great Lakes 1

Perhaps still stinging from a pair of losses on Wednesday, Team Minnesota took out its frustrations on Great Lakes in the second game at Mariucci, scoring three times in both the first and second periods en route to a 6-1 win over Great Lakes. 

Nathan Bujdos started the scoring early in the first with a goal for Great Lakes, sparking a three-goal flurry by Team Minnesota's Ryder Betzold, Gavin Kor, and Tucker Johnson. The trio would turn the rest of the game into their own personal circus, as Johnson would score twice more in the second and Betzold and Kor tormented the Great Lakes defense for the remainder of the game. Johnson earned Player of the Game honors 

Dylan Otten tallied the final goal for Team Minnesota in the second period, enabling the clock to run for the remainder of the third period.

Game Three: Team USA 8, North America 0

Following the trend of running clocks, Team USA scored early and often to close out the morning session, bookending a single-goal second period with three goals in the first frame and four more in the third period. 

Tre Peck, Alexander Oliver, and Jackson Schroeder each scored once in the first for Team USA, relying heavily on long breakout passes that spring players for breakaways and odd-man rushes against the North America defenders. 

Peck scored the lone goal of the second period for Team USA, and added his second assist of the game in the third before being named Player of the Game, and revealing the meaning behind being called Tre. Peck is the third Daniel Joseph in his family, hence the Tre moniker. 

Also playing a role in the scoring performance for Team USA in the third period were Devon Hobson, Emmet Reiter, and Wyatt Herres, showcasing a high level of balance through the roster.  

Game One: Great Plains 3, Rocky Mountain 2

In the same fashion as the game that kicked off the morning, Great Plains hung on for a thrilling 3-2 win over Rocky Mountain in the first game of the afternoon portion in Bloomington. 

After a scoreless first, Rocky Mountain owned the last four minutes of the second period after Great Plains forward Gavin McNeil scored to put his team up 1-0, scoring twice late to take a 2-1 lead into the third frame. Wolf Woelk scored the first goal for Rocky Mountain and assisted on the second, which was notched by Trey Fredenburg.

The third period took on a physical tone as each team battled for every possible advantage. Owen Corkish scored just 14 seconds into the third to tie the game, and the contest remained knotted until the 6:53 mark of the third period when Great Plains' Parker Deschene scored the eventual game-winner on a close-range second-chance shot. 

For his goal and assist, Gavin McNeil of Great Plains was named Player of the Game.

Game Two: Minnesota 10, North America 2

Team Minnesota apparently didn't exercise its frustration enough during Thursday morning's win over Great Lakes, as the team affectionately dubbed as "the blueberries" rocketed to a 10-2 win over North America. 

The first period may have deceived the parents and fans lining the railing on BIG's Rink 2, with the score tied 1-1 after the first 15 minutes of play. Tucker Johnson continued his scoring ways with a goal in the first, and North American's Mercury Bischoff tallied the goal for her club. 

The dam broke 70 seconds into the second, with Minnesota getting a goal from Ryder Betzold before hanging a total of four goals on North America in the period. In addition to Betzold's goal, Tucker Johnson scored twice, and defenseman Austin Gibson added a goal to help Minnesota pull away. 

Both Betzold and Dylan Otten scored twice in the third period for Minnesota, with Jack Stanius chipping in a single goal. The lone goal of the third period for North America was scored by Mason West, with Bischoff picking up the assist. 

Game Three: New England 11, Great Lakes 0

Like the season of autumn and clam chowder, New England just does some things better than the rest of the country. 

In this case, New England has proven to be the best club at scoring goals, adding another 11 tallies on their overall total in the evening's finale against Great Lakes. 

 Jake Tavares finished the game with four points on a goal and three assists, while four other players totaled three points, a concrete testament to the team's deep scoring pool. 

Tavares scored the lone goal of the first period, but any hope for a close game was doused with a five-goal second by New England, with two goals coming from Aaron Obobaifo, and one each from Billy MacAusland, Justin Graf, and Egan Beveridge.

The barrage continued into the third period where Tavares scored twice, Beveridge notched his second of the game, and Nick Thornton and Nick Evans each scored single goals. Defensively, J.J. Thibodeau earned the clean sheet. Justin Graf was honored with the Player of the Game.  

New England will enter Friday with a record of 4-0.