Madison Edgewood vs. Mankato West

Madison Edgewood faced Mankato West for the consolation title in the Hilltopper Classic Tournment. The 10:45 am starting time left Edgewood looking for their legs as they spotted Mankato a four goal lead late in the second period. With the 4th goal being a shorty at 15:20. That goal brought Edgewood out of their slumber as they scored on that same power play at 16:56 in the second. Getting the goal was Mark Zanoya. Assisted by Justin Dragoo and AJ Gullickson. The period ended with Mankato leading in shots 20-15 and on the score board 4-1.

Mankato extended their lead 5-1 at 3:09 of the 3rd period. Edgewood scored on a 2 man advantage at 9:09. Getting the power play goal was Gullickson assisted by Jake Dragoo and Zanoya. Edgewood closed out the scoring at 16:32 when Jake Dragoo got his second goal of the game and Gullickson assisted for his 3rd point. Final score was 5-3 Mankato.

Superior vs. Appleton United

Superior squared off against Appleton United in the 3rd place game. Action was back and forth with neither team generating any great chances. Appleton got on the board first on the power play with a 2 man advantage at 14:21 of the period. Scoring the goal was Tyler Tumey assisted by Keon Schmidt and Cooper Watson. Superior lead in shots on goal 9-6 while Appleton lead where it counted 1-0 on the scoreboard.

Superior scored the equalizer at 3:26 of the second period when Aaron Wakefield-Zubiate wristed a shot from the slot and beat Dylan Phinney high glove side.  Assisting on the goal was Aaron Miller. Appleton regained the lead at 4:39 when Keon Schmidt poked in a rebound from a shot by Devon Blob. Superior again evened the score on a power play at 11:25 when Zubiate put in a backhander on a breakaway after Daniel Berger found him behind the Appleton defense with a pass. The second period ended in a 2-2 tie with Superior leading in shots on goal 23-10.

Superior took the lead at  6:46 of the 3rd period on an unassisted goal by Tyler Nystrom. Superior continued to press the play for the remainder of the period. At 16:19 with their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker Appleton knotted the score at 3 apiece when Blob scored on an assist from Cooper Watson.  At the end of regulation with the score tied 3-3 Superior lead in shots 31-15.

In the 8 minute overtime Appleton got a bench minor at 1:03 for two many men on the ice. Superior appeared to score the game winning goal 16 seconds later on a shot from the left circle. Superior celebrated lined up to shake hands and the referees held a conference and waived the goal with the announcement that the net had been dislodged. Play continued once players from both teams were back on the bench and the 8 minute overtime ended with no score. Play went to a 3 man shoot out to decide the game. Appleton came out on top when Trenton Bliss and Matthew McKeever each scored. Superiors lone goal in the shoot out came from Daniel Berger giving Appleton the victory.

Notre Dame Academy vs. Duluth Marshall

After steamrolling two opponents by a combined score of 16-1 in their Hilltopper Holiday Classic Tournament Duluth Marshall looked poised to take home the championship trophy. Standing in their way was a team they had defeated for the title 5-3 in last years Classic, Notre Dame Acadamy.

With their speed and quickness Marshall had the Tritons backing up early as they got pucks deep and had several good scoring oppourtunities. Eli Hicks, the ND netminder, was solid in goal, helping the Tritons get into the flow of the game. With Sam McCormick off for tripping the hosts took advantage of the situation. Jordan Fralich went high stick side catching the right corner on a screened Hicks from the top of the right circle at 4:56 for a 1-0 Marshall lead. The rest of the period went scoreless and at the intermission Marshall led in shots 9-5 and on the board 1-0.

Notre Dame started the 2nd with a minute forty nine to kill from a late 1st period penalty. They weathered the storm and got their first oppourtunity on the man advantage when Marshall was called for a trip. Mason Appleton put back a rebound of a McCormick shot from the edge of the crease for the power play goal at 3:18. Appleton wasn't done yet as he scored an even strength goal off a scramble at 6:47 assisted by Brett Gruber and Riley Christensen. Marshall answered with another Fralich power play goal at 11:08 this one going over the glove shoulder. The Tritons climbed back on top late at 6:02 when Luke Davison wristed a shot from the right circle past the stunned Marshall tender. Marshall was still on top in shots 23-15 but the Tritons were on top where they wanted to be 3-2.

The see-saw battle continued in the 3rd as the Hilltoppers knotted the score on a shot from Anthony Miller at 5:51. With Marshalls D suffering two injuries the Tritons started getting pucks deep. They were relentless in cycling and creating great chances. They scored three goals in two minutes twenty nine seconds  the last coming at 12:05 of the 3rd and Marshall never recovered. Jarod Zirbel sandwiched 2 around a Brett Gruber tally giving Notre Dame the Hilltopper Title by a score of 6-3 .