Rangers take third at Boys’ State Varsity Hockey Tournament

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FT. PIERRE – Rushmore won in overtime for the second straight game to win the 2018 SDAHA State Boys’ Varsity Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Expo in Ft. Pierre as the Thunder prevailed, 4-3, over Sioux Falls.

Brookings, which lost Saturday’s semifinal to Rushmore, 3-2 in OT, bounced back to take third place with a 5-3 win over Huron while Oahe downed Watertown, 6-2, for fifth.

Third Place

 Brookings 5, Huron 3

After skating to a 1-1 tie after a period, the Rangers put away three in the second period to take control on the way to the two-goal win.

Mason Gerstner lit the lamp with an unassisted goal midway through the first to spot Brookings the early lead before Carson Duba found the back of the net for the All Stars to level the game after the first 17 minutes.

Cody Niklason’s unassisted tally put the Rangers back up, and then, Dalton Rittershaus netted the puck for a 3-1 advantage as Alec Nielson earned the assist. Austin Lesnar pushed the lead to 4-1 through two just 17 seconds later with the assists going to Trevor Kuechenmeister and Kobe Ischen.

Huron closed within 4-3 as Xavier Erickson tallied an unassisted goal early in the third before Spencer Busch scored off a Thacher Dramsted setup midway through the period. But Nielson cashed in on a power-play chance with 5:27 left for insurance as Brandin Heesch supplied the helper.

The Rangers held a 34-27 edge in shots as Tristian Hokenson finished with 24 saves for the win in goal while Jacob Wehde stopped 29 Brookings shots in the loss.

BROOKINGS 5, HURON 3

Huron 1  0  2  –  3

Brookings 1  3  1  –  5

First Period

Scoring: 1. Brookings – Mason Gerstner (unassisted), 9:16. 1. Huron – Carson Duba (unassisted), 7:31. Penalties: None.

Second Period

Scoring: 2. Brookings – Cody Niklason (unassisted), 10:39. 3. Brookings – Dalton Rittershaus (Alec Nielson), 2:50. 4. Brookings – Austin Lesnar (Trevor Kuechenmeister, Kobe Ischen), 2:33. Penalties: None.

Third Period

Scoring: 2. Huron – Xavier Erickson (unassisted), 15:42. 3. Huron – Spencer Busch (Thacher Dramsted), 9:17. 5. Brookings – Alec Nielson (Brandin Heesch), 5:27. Penalties: H, Cody Ruedebusch (Tripping), 11:24; H, Matt Voss (Tripping), 7:14; B, Cody Niklason (Tripping), 3:56; H, Xavier Erickson (Tripping), 2:11.

Power Plays: H 0-1; B 1-2. Shots on Goal: H 8-8-11 – 27; B 11-14-9 – 34. Saves: H, Jacob Wehde 29-of-34; B, Tristian Hokenson 23-of-26.

Championship

 Rushmore 4, Sioux Falls 3 (OT)

The second-seeded Thunder rallied to force overtime and then Seth Dikoff tallied an unassisted goal 7 1/2 minutes into the extra time to lift Rushmore to a 4-3 win over the top-seeded Flyers.

Sioux Falls got on the scoreboard first on Ryan Dinsmore’s goal 4 minutes into the game before the Thunder scored back-to-back goals to go up 2-1. Ryan Nolan tallied the first goal and Austin Stiles scored with 8 minutes to play, but the Flyers tied the game on Trey Ponto’s power-play goal to send the game into the first intermission tied at 2-2.

Keegan Anderson gave Sioux Falls a 3-2 lead heading into the final period, where Gavin Gary cashed in on a power-play chance with 5:41 to play to force overtime.

Rushmore held a 46-28 edge in shots as John Young finished with 25 saves for the win in goal. Anthony Seykora had 41 saves on 45 shots for the Flyers.

Fifth Place

 Oahe 6, Watertown 2

The Capitals scored the first four goals of the game, which included a penalty-shot goal, as they led 4-1 after a period and cruised to the four-goal win over Watertown.

Clay Ambach and Carsten Mueller tallied power-play goals in the first 8 1/2 minutes of play before Mueller made it 3-0 with a penalty-shot goal. Spencer Wedin’s goal with 4:39 left pushed Oahe’s lead to four goals, but Greg Petereit lit the lamp for the Lakers to make it 4-1 after one.

Jacob Gerber cashed in on a power-play opportunity to get Watertown within 4-2, but Riggs Sanchez scored for the Capitals less than 90 seconds later to give Oahe a 5-2 edge heading into the final period.

Wedin notched his second goal late in the third period for the final margin as the Capitals held a 31-26 edge in shots with Tristan Fuerst earning the win in goal with 24 saves as Jared Fedt finished with 25 saves in the loss.

Saturday

Championship Semifinals

 Rushmore 3, Brookings 2 (OT)

Zach Bender fired a loose puck past a helmet-less Dylan Geraets with 3:20 left in overtime to propel the Thunder into the title game. Ryan Nolan was credited with the assist after taking a shot and then colliding with Geraets and knocking off his mask just before Bender put back the game winner.

After a scoreless first period, the Rangers got on the scoreboard when Austin Lesnar converted a power-play opportunity 3 minutes and 17 seconds into the second as Jamison Honkomp picked up the assist.

But Rushmore evened the score on Derrick Brown’s power-play tally with 6:04 left in the period off assists from Austin Stiles and Tanner Good.

In the third period, the Thunder took the lead when Brown cashed in on another power-play chance 4 minutes in, but Matt Chapin’s backhand off Rushmore goalie John Young tied the game at 2-2 and sent it into extra time as Cody Niklason earned the helper.

Geraets finished with 43 saves in the loss as the Thunder held a 46-15 advantage in shots and converted 2-of-4 power plays as the Rangers cashed in on 1-of-5 chances.

RUSHMORE 3, BROOKINGS 2 (OT)

Brookings 0  1  1  0  –  2

Rushmore 0  1  1  1  –  3

First Period

Scoring: None. Penalties: R, Jacob Lindblom (Tripping), 13:26; R, Grant Wolthius (Holding), 1:15; R, John Young (Roughing), 1:00.

Second Period

Scoring: 1. Brookings – Austin Lesnar (Jamison Honkomp), pp, 13:43. 1. Rushmore – Derrick Brown (Austin Stiles, Tanner Good), pp, 6:04. Penalties: R, Grant Wolthius (Tripping), 15:30; B, Brandin Heesch (Cross Checking), 9:53; B, Cody Niklason (Roughing), 5:04; R, Camden Nayman (Roughing), 5:04; B, Kurt Gutormson (Hooking), 4:26.

Third Period

Scoring: 2. Rushmore – Derrick Brown (unassisted), pp, 12:20. 2. Brookings – Matt Chapin (Cody Niklason), 7:19. Penalties: R, Grant Wolthius (Tripping), 15:04; B, Too Many Men (14:06); B, Jamison Honkomp (Unsportsmanlike Conduct-Misconduct), 14:06; B, Kurt Gutormson (Elbowing), 11:19; B, Kurt Gutormson (Tripping), 4:37.

Overtime

Scoring: 3. Rushmore – Zach Bender (Ryan Nolan), 3:20. Penalties: None.

Power Plays: B 1-5; R 2-4. Shots on Goal: B 7-4-5-0 – 16;  R 11-13-17-5 – 46. Saves: B, Dylan Geraets 43-of-46; R, John Young 13-of-15.

 Sioux Falls 7, Huron 0

The Flyers dominated play to advance to the title game as they scored three goals in the first; added two in the second; and then, tacked on two more in the third for the shutout win.

Nathan Fanning sandwiched a pair of goals – the second on a power play – around a Collin Geres score as Sioux Falls led 3-0 just 2 1/2 minutes into the game.

Leading 3-0 after one, Ethan Ramsey and Nathan Moon both found the back of the net within a minute of each other midway through the second period to make it 5-0 through two.

Fanning collected a hat trick less than 2 minutes into the third before Grant Koerner added an insurance goal with 12:21 to play.

Sioux Falls outshot the All Stars, 35-17, as Anthony Seykora earned the shutout win in goal. Jacob Wehde finished with 28 saves for Huron.

Consolation Semifinals

 Oahe 7, Sioux Center 2

The host Capitals proved to be too much for the Storm as Oahe led 3-1 after a period and then added three more in the final frame to advance to the fifth-place game.

Jacob Molseed got Oahe on the scoreboard 7 1/2 minutes in before Spencer Wedin converted a power-play chance less than two minutes later. Clay Ambach’s goal with less than three minutes left in the period pushed the Capital lead to 3-0, but Rylan Brue’s unassisted power-play goal inside of a minute to play made it 3-1 after one.

Wedin’s short-handed goal late in the second gave Oahe a 4-1 advantage through two and Carsten Mueller lit the lamp 5 minutes into the third to make it 5-1.

Drew Vreugdenhil tallied a short-handed goal for Sioux Center to cut the lead to 5-2, but Jackson Lake answered with a power-play tally less than 30 seconds later, and then, Riggs Sanchez netted a short-handed goal with less than a minute on the clock for the 7-1 final.

Oahe held a 35-23 edge in shots on goal as Tristan Fuerst finished with 21 saves in the win. The Capitals also cashed in on 2-of-3 power-play chances to just 1-for-7 for the Storm.

 Watertown 6, Mitchell 5

The Lakers nearly tripled up Mitchell in shots on goal – 48-16 – and even though the Marlins made theirs count, they still came up a goal short as Watertown advanced to the fifth-place game.

Dawsyn Wirkus’ goal with 11:16 on the clock started the Lakers’ scoring, but Adam Loes answered 45 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. Connor Bramer needed less than 30 seconds to put Watertown up, 2-1, and then Wirkus tallied a short-handed goal with 2:26 left for a 3-1 Laker lead after one.

Greg Petereit’s score 6 minutes into the second pushed Watertown’s advantage to 4-1 before Loes scored 11 seconds later to cut the lead to 4-2. Peyton Nash lit the lamp with 6:46 left in the period to make it 4-3 heading into the final frame.

Alex Ortmeier’s goal 5 1/2 minutes into the third pushed the Lakers’ lead back to 5-3, but Jake Jarman scored with 9:52 left to get the Marlins back within 5-4. Less than a minute later, Coby Steiner scored for Watertown for a 6-4 edge before Jarman notched his second goal of the period at the 4:12 mark to get Mitchell within 6-5 for the final margin.

Jared Fedt finished with 13 saves to get the win in goal while Nathan Zimmerman collected 40 in the loss.

Scott Millard/Capital Journal photo: Kobe Ischen skates the puck into the All Stars’ zone during the Rangers’ 5-3 win over Huron in Sunday’s third-place game of the Boys’ Varsity State Tournament at the Expo in Ft. Pierre.