Brandon Osmundson grew up watching the Norfolk Admirals. Now, he's scoring goals for his hometown team.
Norfolk Admirals forward Brandon Osmundson grew up in Chesapeake, just seven miles from Norfolk Scope Arena. Now, he’s playing for his hometown team.
Friday night in Portland, Maine, Osmundson scored his first goal of the season against the Mariners to help Norfolk to a 6-3 victory and secure their first win of the young season.
Carson Golder took the initial shot, and the puck deflected off Osmundson in front and got past the blocker of Mariners goalie Ryan Bischel to put Norfolk ahead 2-0 in the first period.
Osmundson’s family had season tickets to Norfolk Admirals games, so he was a regular at Norfolk Scope. He got his start in hockey at a Learn to Play Program from the age of four, then played all of his travel & youth hockey with the Hampton Roads Whalers at the Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex.
Now, Osmundson has come full circle after receiving an invite to Admirals training camp last October on an amateur tryout (ATO). He started the season with the SPHL’s Huntsville Havoc before receiving a promotion to Norfolk in December.
Osmundson played 43 regular-season games and eight playoff contests with Norfolk, scoring his first Admirals goal on New Year’s Eve at Wheeling against the Nailers. On January 21, he scored his first goal at Norfolk Scope, the rink he frequented as a boy.
“I’m super excited to be back home in Norfolk for the upcoming season,” Osmundson said after re-signing with the Admirals in July. “The team made significant improvements last year and we look to continue that into this season. Our goal is to bring a championship back to the city of Norfolk. I can’t wait to be playing in-front of the best fans at the Scope once again.”
On Friday, Osmundson and the Admirals took control of the game early. Keegan Iverson got the offensive fireworks started at the 6:07 mark of the first period, with a helper from Kamerin Nault for a 1-0 Norfolk lead.
Osmundson’s goal came just 17 seconds later, with Golder and Sanghoon Shin getting assists.
Norfolk would add two more goals to take a 4-0 lead into the first intermission. They added another in the second on Darick Louis-Jean’s tally, assisted by Stepan Timofeyev and Brady Fleurent for a 5-0 Admirals lead.
Jake Willets got Maine on the board with a power-play goal at 11:55 of the second frame, assisted by Xander Lamppa and Carter Johnson. The Mariners cut even deeper into the lead on a Patrick Guay goal to make the score 5-2 at 18:21 of the second.
Both teams traded goals in the third period, and the Admirals came away with their first win of the 2024-25 season to go 1-2-0. With the loss, Maine also falls to 1-2-0.