Holiday Tournaments Pick the Winners Challenge!

[MNHockeyFan]

In tonight’s lower bracket quarterfinal games it was:

Stillwater 4, Coon Rapids 2
The scoresheet has not yet been posted for this one.

Edina 4, Grand Rapids/Greenway 1
Taylor Williamson and Liz Trautz scored each scored two goals to lead Edina past Grand Rapids/Greenway. Riley Anderson and Jackie Pieper each contributed two assists. The Hornets had a very decisive 44-10 advantage in shots on goal.

Three of our prognosticators – capitalpride, sinbin and NE14HKY - nailed the score in the first game and earn the extra point. Everyone else picked up a single point for the Ponies’ victory.

And in the second game capitalpride and NE14HKY repeated their heroics by getting the score right yet again! In addition, mnhockey3535 and woogieboogiewoogie also predicted the 4-1 score and add the bonus. Everyone else pick up the 'measly' single point for the Hornets’ win!

Here is our Leaderboard after Day 1:
1. capitalpride – 5
NE14HKY – 5
mnhockey3535 – 5

2. Silent But Deadly – 4
sinbin – 4
Knight7 – 4
Woogieboogiewoogie – 4

3. Nine tied with 3 points each

Busy day tomorrow with the semi's in the ABRA and the quarters in the Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown.

[MNHockeyFan]

Benilde-St. Margaret’s 3, Chaska/Chanhassen 2

No. 1 ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s escaped with a one goal victory in the opening game of the 2012 Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown. The game was very much in doubt until the very end, as StormHawks’ freshman Sophia Poiner scored two goals in the 3rd period to keep her team within a goal. And, with 1:24 to go, BSM’s Liv Halvorson was called for a minor penalty, which promptly became a two-man advantage after Chaska/Chanhassen pulled their goaltender. But the Red Knights were able to "weather the StormHawks" for the duration, and they advance to the semifinal game.

Everyone had BSM winning this one, but nobody got the score right, as nearly everyone had predicted a winning margin of at least three.

[MNHockeyFan]

Minnetonka 4, Cretin-Derham Hall 0

Despite missing star defenders Sydney Baldwin and Sidney Morin, who were chosen to play for the USA U18 team at the World Championship in Finland, the No. 2 ranked Minnetonka Skippers had no trouble dispatching Cretin-Derham Hall in the second quarterfinal game of the Mid-Winter Meltdown. Minnetonka used scoring from four different players, while Amy Peterson had three assists and Sydney Rossman stopped all 19 of the Raiders’ shots for the shutout.

Once again, in our contest everyone scored points as a result of the heavy favorite winning. But also once again it was captitalpride managing yet another perfect score, the only one to do so in this game. I’ll post the full Leaderboard a little later in the evening, but suffice to say capitalpride - for the moment at least - is all alone in first place.

[MNHockeyFan]

Anoka 3, Eagan 2 (OT)

Blair Parent scored at 0:14 of overtime to give Anoka a 3-2 win over Eagan in the third quarterfinal game of the Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown. Eagan had taken a 2-0 lead into the 3rd period on goals by Brooke Madsen and Sarah Jackson, but Anoka’s Emilie Brigham scored on the power play with 4:14 left to cut the margin to one. Then, with just eleven seconds to go, Brigham scored again - this time shorthanded - to send the game into OT. For the game Anoka had a 34-25 edge in shots on goal, including a 16-7 margin during their 3rd period rally.

In our contest only 4 of 16 picked the Tornadoes to win, so on this basis the result has to be considered a bit of an upset (even though most if not everyone knew that Eagan would be missing their leading scorer, Megan Wolfe, who is in Finland with the USA U18 team). We did have one correct score in this game, that being by mnhockey3535, who on the strength of the extra point jumps out in front with a 1 point lead over capitalpride, who had picked Eagan to win.

I’ll post a more complete Leaderboard later tonight.

[MNHockeyFan]

ABRA Invitational Semifinal:

Lakeville South 3, Irondale 1

Goals by Kalley Ravndalen and Annabeth Smith in the 3rd period broke open a 1-1 tie to lead Lakeville South past the Knights in the first semifinal matchup of the ABRA Invitational tournament. Morgan Morse assisted on two of the Cougars’ three goals.

In our contest 9 of 16 picked the Cougars to win the upper bracket semifinal, and they pick up two points each.

[MNHockeyFan]

The other ABRA semifinal is now reported as final, but no stats are yet available:

Edina 2, Stillwater 1

13 of 16 got this one right, with the other 3 believing the Ponies would advance. So entering the 3 games today, with 7 points at stake, here is how we stand:

1. mnhockey3535 - 14

2. NE14HKY - 13

3. Silent But Deadly - 12

4. capitalpride - 11
ayhfan - 11

6. Racki2016 - 10
D6 Girls Fan - 10
MNHockeyFan - 10

9. hockeyfan87 - 9
Flying Warrior - 9
sinbin - 9
Knight7 - 9
woogieboogiewoogie - 9

14. Two with 8

16. One with 6

[MNHockeyFan]

Minnetonka 2, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 1

Goals by Minnetonka's Katie McMillan and Amy Peterson in the second period were enough to upend Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the first semifinal of the Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown in Eden Prairie. BSM got on the board on a goal by Liv Halvorson scored at 1:36 of the 3rd period, but the Skippers were able to shut down the high scoring Red Knights the rest of the way. Minnetonka’s Hannah Ehresmann ended up with 25 saves on 26 shots, while BSM’s Abigail Miller stopped 15 of 17.

In our contest only three prognosticators had Tonka winning, but one was leader mnhockey3535 and another was NE14HKY who holds on to 2nd Place. hockeyfan87 also thought the Skippers would prevail and in the process picks up two points on the rest of the field.

[MNHockeyFan]

In the second semifinal of the Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown it was:

Eden Prairie 4, Anoka 1

Eden Prairie used a balanced attack to defeat Anoka and advance to the final of the 2012 Eagles Mid-Winter Meltdown. Eden Prairie’s goals were scored by Allison Koloski, Lauren Boyle, Carly Molenaar and Josie Olson. Charly Dahlquist added two assists, and goaltender McKenzie Johnson stopped 12 of 13 Anoka shots. Blair Parent scored the Anoka goal, while netminder Molly Scarborough was called on to make 45 saves.

In our contest 14 of 16 had EP winning and pick up two points each.

I’ll post the full Leaderboard when the ABRA Championship game is reported as a final.

[MNHockeyFan]

Of our three Holiday tournaments we have our first champion as host Edina wins the ABRA Invitational. It was:

Edina 2, Lakeville South 0

Jane Thotland scored in the second and Sarah Nielsen added a shorthanded goal in the third to lead the Hornets over the Cougars. And in goal Boomer Sonnek stopped all 12 shots she faced to post the shutout. Lakeville South’s Chloe Crosby faced 40 Edina shots while giving up only two.

And, in our contest, 9 of 16 picked Edina to win while the other seven picks were spread between Lakeville South (3), Stillwater (2) and one each for Irondale and Hopkins. Our leaders mnhockey3535 and NE14HKY each had Lakeville South winning it, and as a result the standings tightened considerably compared to where things stood before this result was posted.

Heading into tomorrow’s five games:

1. mnhockey3535 - 18

2. Silent But Deadly - 17
NE14HKY – 17

4. capitalpride – 16

5. Racki2016 - 15
D6 Girls Fan - 15
MNHockeyFan – 15

8. Flying Warrior – 14
sinbin – 14
ayhfan – 14
woogieboogiewoogie – 14

12. hockeyfan87 – 13

13. One with 11

14. Two with 10

16. One with 6

[MNHockeyFan]

Just one reported score in as of 5:25PM:

Lakeville North 4, Roseville 1

Kelli Pritzlaff’s goal at 1:51 of the 3rd period broke what was a 1-1 tie and proved to be the game winner in a closely contested quarterfinal game of the Kaposia Tournament. Heidi Winiecki and Christi Vetter went on to add insurance goals to make it a 4-1 Panthers victory.

Our panel was pretty evenly divided as to which team would win this one, although by a slight 9-7 margin the majority thought it would be Roseville. There was one perfect score - by Bighead - who picks up the bonus point.

I will be out this evening, so no further updates until around 10:00PM.

GO GOPHERS!

[Knight7]

Eden Prairie 4-1 over Tonka

[MNHockeyFan]

Eden Prairie 4-1 over Tonka

Thanks, Knight7, the scores are slow to be posted this evening. Like Edina in the ABRA, Eden Prairie wins their own tournament. Congratulations to the Eagles! Will they be the new No. 1?

And guess who was the only one to predict that the Eagles would come out victorious? No other than our contest leader, mnhockey3535. Super job, all around mnhockey3535.

Also, according to minnesota-scores.net, it was:

Hill-Murray 5, Bloomington Jefferson 0

Jefferson was my "upset special" pick but that obviously didn't pan out too well! Everyone else had the Pioneers coming out on top in this one, so there goes any chance I had to make a comeback!

Still waiting on the Warroad/Blake and SSP/Hibbing-Chisholm outcomes...will post Leaderboard asap.

[MNHockeyFan]

The final two scores are now in:

Warroad 12, Blake 3

and:

Hibbing/Chisholm 4, South St. Paul 3 (OT)

In Warroad's big win over #3A Blake, UND recruit Lisa Marvin had the hat trick plus three assists, and fellow UND recruit Kayla Gardner had the hat trick plus two assists. Sierra Hanowski also contributed a goal and three assists in the lopsided win for the No. 1 rated Warroad Warriors.

All 16 contestants had Warroad winning this matchup, and as to be expected when one team scores 10+ goals, there were no correct scores.

In Hibbing/Chisholm's 4-3 overtime win over tournement host South St. Paul, it was Katie Dye scoring the winning goal - her second of the game - for the upset win. Hibbing/Chisholm will advance to play tournament favorite Warroad in the second semifinal on Monday.

So, with all scores reported as of today, until the Kaposia semifinal games on Monday, it is mnhockey3535 with a commanding lead:

1. mnhockey3535 - 24

2. Silent But Deadly - 20
capitalpride - 20
NE14HKY - 20

5. Racki2016 - 17
sinbin - 17
D6 Girls Fan - 17
ayhfan - 17

9. Flying Warrior - 16
MNHockeyFan - 16
woogieboogiewoogie - 16

12. hockeyfan87 - 15
Knight7 - 15

14. Bighead - 14

15. One with 13

16. One with 9

[MNHockeyFan]

In the first of the two semifinal games at the Kaposia Classic Invitational, it was:

Hill-Murray 3, Lakeville North 1

Hill-Murray scored a goal in each period to beat the Panthers and advance to the Championship Game against the winner of lower bracket semifinal between Warroad and Hibbing/Chisholm. Hill-Murray goals were scored by Mikayla Jones, Paige Freeberg and Kate Smith. Alexys Woodward stopped 17 of 18 Panthers shots for the win.

Although our panel favored the Pioneers to win this semifinal (7 votes), Lakeville North and Roseville each drew 4 votes apiece and one upset-minded contestant [:roll:] thought Bloomington Jefferson would advance. But more importantly contest leader mnhockey3535 astutely picked Hill-Murray and maintains a 4 point lead.

I'll post the updated Leaderboard once the winner of the Warroad-Hibbing/Chisholm game is confirmed.

[MNHockeyFan]

No boxscore, but the score of the second semifinal was reported in this morning's St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Warroad 3, Hibbing/Chisholm 0

Congratulations to mnhockey3535 who has now clinched 1st Place in this year's Holiday Tournament Challenge:

1. mnhockey3535 - 28

2. capitalpride - 24
NE14HKY - 24

4. Silent But Deadly - 22

5. D6 Girls Fan - 21

6. woogieboogiewoogie - 20

7. Racki2016 - 19
hockeyfan87 - 19
sinbin - 19
Knight7 - 19
ayhfan - 19

12. Flying Warrior - 18
MNHockeyFan - 18

14. One with 16

15. One with 15

16. One with 11

[MNHockeyFan]

Warroad 2, Hill-Murray 1

Goals scored by Mariah and Demi Gardner were all No. 1A Warroad needed to beat Hill-Murray in the championship game of the 18th Annual Kaposia Classic Invitational Tournament. The Pioneers tried to mount a 3rd period comeback on a goal by Sam Boyer, but Warroad's Dayton Hilgert shut the door the rest of the way. For the game Hill-Murray had the edge in shots, 24 to 19.

12 of 16 wise prognosticators on our panel favored Warroad to claim the championship, while 3 had the Pioneers and 1 who picked Roseville. Included in the 12 who thought Warroad would win it was mnhockey3535, our own champion of this year's "Holiday Tournaments Pick the Winners Challenge!" mnhockey3535 ended up winning by a very convincing 6 point margin.

Also picking Warroad was Silent But Deadly, who was able to climb into 2nd Place ahead of capitalpride and NE14HKY, who had each picked Hill-Murray.

Again, a big congratulations to mnhockey3535 on some very fine prognosticating!

For the record, here are the final point totals:

1. mnhockey3535 - 31

2. Silent But Deadly - 25

3. capitalpride - 24
NE14HKY - 24

5. woogieboogiewoogie - 23

6. Racki2016 - 22
hockeyfan87 - 22
sinbin - 22
Knight7 - 22
ayhfan - 22

11. Flying Warrior - 21
D6 Girls Fan - 21
MNHockeyFan - 21

14. One with 19

15. One with 15

16. One with 14