For five days in late July, some of the top Minnesota hockey players aged 15-18 took part in the annual Model Camp, a collection of practices and games held on the University of Minnesota campus and at 3M Arena at Mariucci. 

The skaters train under the watchful eye of some of the top college coaches in the country and clash in games consisting of two 35-minute halves that feature running time. 

On Friday afternoon, Team Purple upended top-seed Team Royal Blue by a score of 6-3, claiming the top spot in the 2018 Model Camp with a record of 4-1, outscoring opponents 28-18 in the process. Eden Prairie’s Sam Wilhite owned the first half for Team Purple, rattling off all three goals for his squad as the teams entered the second half tied 3-3. 

Brendan Sloth, Wyatt Andres, and Riley Bawek all scored within nine minutes of each other to power Team Purple to the aforementioned 6-3 victory.

Team Black blanked Team Green 11-0 in the third-place game, with Billy Rose pacing the group with a goal and three assists. Kyle Heffron and Mason Nevers each scored twice in the win for Team Black. 

In the first game of Friday’s slate, Team Gold edged Team Columbia Blue 4-2, thanks in large part to Carter Eha’s two-goal effort. Carter Batchelder and Blake Meister each scored once in the win for Team Gold, while Team Columbia Blue’s tallies came from Dylan Zitzloff and Charlie Strobel.  

Like Wilhite, fellow Eden Prairie forward John Mittelstadt had a standout week for Team Black, leading the camp in scoring with four goals and 12 points. Following Mittelstadt on the scoring list was Totino-Grace’s Kyle Heffron with seven goals and 11 points, and Joey Dosan with a pair of goals and a camp-high seven assists.