Prep Hockey - Osseo

I've become a HUGE Lady Gopher hockey fan. The pureness of their game makes for excellent viewing. One of the players, Dagney Willey, is the daughter/sister of a coupla Drum Corps pals of mine. The Brother, Kevin Willey, is co-coach of the Osseo Orioles Hockey Squad. The Lovely Mrs. and I ventured to the State Fair Collisuem to watch this Sectional #5 seed tackle the #1 slotted Blaine Bengals. Osseo had them onthe ropes, scoring first, and holding them to a shut out with just a minute left, until Blaine was forced to pull the goalie:

With goaltender Danny Harper on the bench for a sixth skater, Frischmon scored on a rebound at 16:18 to send the game into overtime.

With 17:00 minute periods, that meant Osseo was 42 secons away for a shot at State witha t rip to the sectional title. It was not to be:

Frischmon's game-winner came at 5:14 of overtime. Nick Bjugstad won a faceoff in the Osseo zone back to the right point. Defenseman Ryan Brockway sent the puck behind the net to Eric Scheid, who found Frischmon in the slot.

Kevin's co-coach summed it up crisply:

"We played a perfect game for 50 minutes," Osseo co-coach Mark Phenow said. "It needed to be 51."

Amazing hockey and this was only sectional Quarters.

I'll see Kevin this weekend as the Lady Gophers play in the WCHA Frozen Four, Saturday at 1:00 against Minnesota State. The winner plays Sunday for the title and a virtual lock at a #1 seen in the NCAA Tournament

Mrs. Flash will be going again tonight to watch the surprising Johnson Governor shoot for another upset. Last weekend the shocked the #1 seeded Tartan squad. Friday, the winners of last night, and tonight, play for their trip to State.

Minnesota IS the State of Hockey.

Flash
UPDATE: Live coverage from the section finals Wed, Thurs, and Friday this week on 106.1FM and 107.5FM.

Tom Saterdalen, Reed Larson, Dave Langevin, Jim Rich, Eric Gislason and Ryan Phelps will be calling the action at the following games:

Wed:
Johnson vs Stillwater
Hill vs White Bear

Thurs:
Edina vs Jefferson
Tonka vs EP

Fri:
Blaine vs Centennial
Tonight's winners