Game One: New England 6, Team USA 1

Thursday morning started with business-as-usual for New England, though The Show's leader in the clubhouse started slow, entering the second period tied at 1-1. 

If there's an east coast-equivalent to "no worries brah," New England showed no signs of being rattled after one, scoring twice in the second period and three more times in the third, earning a 6-1 win over a spirited Team USA squad. 

Both Egan Beveridge and Justin Graf scored twice for New England, with William Belle and Player of the Game Myles Brosnan each chipping in single goals. Brosnan also added an assist in the win. Team USA's Wyatt Herres scored his team's lone goal in the loss.  

Game Two: Great Plains 5, North America 2

Johnny Carson (and later on David Letterman) may have been the king(s) of late-night, but Mason Jenson ruled the early afternoon at Bloomington Ice Garden. Jenson tallied a hat-trick as Great Plains pulled away in the third period for a 5-2 win. 

Jenson scored the first goal of the game in the first period, giving Great Plains a 1-0 lead that was extended to 2-0 with a goal from Parker Deschene. Mason West sliced the Great Plains lead in half with a goal early in the second, but the momentum swung firmly back to the cream-and-black side with a goal by William Kortan. 

Again, North America refused to quit, with Liam Heary adding a powerplay goal in the third period to make the score 3-2 in favor of Great Plains and again, momentum's favorable gaze upon North America was fleeting. 

Jenson scored twice to ice the win for Great Plains with his second goal coming off a scrum in front of the North America net where Jenson pecked away until the puck found its way across the goal line. 

Great Plains' Kortan was named Player of the Game, showcasing serious drive in all three zones and notching his first goal of The Show.  

Game Three: Rocky Mountain 6, Great Lakes 4

A four-goal second period propelled Rocky Mountain to a 6-4 win over Great Lakes in the final game of the morning session, allowing Rocky Mountain to conclude pool play with a record of 3-2. 

Tre Peck drew first blood for Great Lakes before Rocky Mountain's Brady Smith knotted the score at 1-1. A pair of goals by Team USA's Emmet Reiter and Jackson Schroeder with a Rocky Mountain tally by Dimitri Tioumentsev sandwiched between them puts Team USA ahead 3-2 with just five minutes remaining in the second period. 

Then the score tectonically shifted. 

Rocky Mountain rattled off three straight goals by Carter Ganser, Logan Anderson, and Sawyer Graubins, stretching the lead to 5-3 entering the third period. Reiter pulled Team USA within one goal at 5-4, but Ganser answered with an empty-net game-sealer for his second goal of the game. 

Game One: Great Plains 6, Team USA 5 (OT)

The team may have made their fans (and coaches) wait for it, but Great Plains eventually emerged with a 6-5 win in overtime over another scrappy game by Team USA. 

Gavin McNeil scored the game-winner less than two minutes into the extra session, walking in front of the Team USA net and roofing a shot into the bright white twine to give Great Plains a 4-1-1 record in pool play. 

Gurkaranvir Otal netted two goals in the loss for Team USA, one in the first period and one in the third. Great Plains led 4-2 after two periods, with Rowan Vaughn, William Kortan, Parker Deschene, and Danny Klaers all chipping in single goals. Mason Jenson also scored once for Great Plains.  

Jackson Schroeder scored once for Team USA, with the other two goals coming from Brady Sorrentino. Sorrentino made the switch from his usual defensive position to forward as leading scorer Tre Peck left the game for the birth of his sibling after the first period, and with his aforementioned two goals filled in impressively. 

Game Two: Great Lakes 5, Team USA 4

In a tale of two heartsick and heartbroken teams, Great Lakes held off a late charge by Team USA to earn the one-goal victory, despite North America playing its best game of The Show thus far. 

North America struck twice in the first period, with goals coming from Jack Starfield and Christian Barron with a goal by Great Lakes' Mateo Nunag between them. With the score 2-1 North America after the first, Great Lakes ripped off three goals, with North America tallying just once. Ben Slifko scored once for Great Lakes, while Wyatt Ehrhardt racked up a pair of goals. Christian Barron scored the lone goal for North America in the second period. 

Landon Carpenter extended the Great Lakes lead to 5-3 early in the third, sparking a flurry of activity by North America in the offensive zone. The pressure led to a Ty Peddigrew goal with just 5:53 to play in regulation, but North America's inability to capitalize on a man-advantage opportunity squelched any chances of a comeback.

Game Three: New England 7, Team Minnesota 3

Team New England's ability to finish games is on par with Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy's ability to finish columns with a stinging panache. 

All jokes and columnist-comparisons aside, New England skated away from Team Minnesota to finish off the Friday night slate of games, scoring four times in the last 9:35 of regulation to win 7-3 and cement the top seed for Saturday's semifinals. 

Justin Graf led the way with two goals and an assist for New England, followed by Van Martin's pair of goals and helper of his own. James Connor, Egan Beveridge, and Aaron Obobaifo each tallied one goal in the win, with Obobaifo also playing distribution specialist with three assists. 

Scoring for Minnesota were Ryder Betzold, Cade Sherman, and Gavin Kor, pacing an enthusiastic effort from a team that had yet to skate on Friday.