BROOKINGS – The matchups for Sunday are set as the second day of the SDAHA Varsity State Tournament saw Rushmore advance to Sunday’s championship game while Mitchell and Sioux Falls East picked up wins in the consolation bracket.
The Marlins and Flyers will play each other for fifth place at the Larson Ice Center at 9 a.m. Sunday while Sioux Falls West and Oahe will play for third place at noon.
The Thunder will battle the Brookings Rangers for the state championship at 3 p.m.
The Thunder advanced to Sunday’s championship game by shutting out Sioux Falls West on Saturday afternoon.
Alexander Dietrich put Rushmore on the board with a power play goal from Colton Merchen and Cameron Ritter at 7:57 of the first period before Wyatt Reeder scored with an assist from Ritter 22 seconds later to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead.
Ritter’s goal from Layne Jensen and Colton Merchen gave Rushmore a 3-0 lead at 15:05 of the first period before Reeder and Merchen each scored power play goals in the third period to put the game away.
Easton Knoll and Dietrich assisted Reeder’s goal at 11:48 of the third period while Dietrich tallied another assist on Merchen’s goal at 12:31 of the third period.
Wyatt Simmons stopped all 21 shots to earn the shutout for Rushmore while Cole Langston stopped 30-of-35 shots for Sioux Falls West.
Rushmore went 3-of-7 on the power play while Sioux Falls West went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
Pacxton Denne opened the scoring for the Marlins with a power play goal from Levi Loken and Parker Denne 61 seconds into the game and Mitchell took control of the game by scoring four times in the second period.
Pacxton Denne scored his second goal of the game from Parker Denne and Tyson Sabers at 4:31 of the second period before Parker Denne made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal at 6:02.
Aberdeen got on the board with Quincy Madsen’s goal from Devon Fischbach at 6:57 of the second period but Levi Loken scored an unassisted power play goal at 9:38 and Paxcton Denne scored an unassisted goal at 12:37 to give the Marlins a 5-1 lead at the end of the third period.
Aberdeen scored a pair of goals in the third period as Micah Kranzler scored a power play goal from Madsen and Lance Siefken at 1:25 and Aiden Posthumus scored from Levi Little and Madsen at 16:37.
Ian Vaughn was rewarded with the win after stopping 29-of-32 shots and Colton Townsend stopped 22-of-27 shots for Aberdeen.
Mitchell went 2-for-2 on the power play while Aberdeen converted their lone power play in the game.
The Flyers advanced to the consolation championship with a comeback win over Watertown on Saturday afternoon.
Watertown built a 4-0 lead to open the game, which started with Kowynn Muhl’s unassisted goal at 1:27 of the first period. Jake Bramer added to the lead with a power play goal from Austin McBride at 4:02 of the second period before Thomas Foley scored from Mylan Evans at 8:59 and Evans scored from Foley at 9:26.
The Flyers’ rally began when Nick Gray scored with an assist from Vinny Thill at 9:51 of the second period. Sam Sahly added an unassisted goal at 10:12 and Gray scored his second goal of the game from Max Mohr at 12:12.
With the Flyers down 4-3 entering the third period, Hayden Hansen scored from Tryg Smoot at 1:02 and Gray completed the hat trick shorthanded at 11:04 in what was the game-winning goal.
Trey Salonen stopped 26-of-30 shots for Sioux Falls East while Kohl Nygaard stopped 23-of-28 shots for Watertown.
Watertown went 1-for-7 on the power play while Sioux Falls East went 0-for-3.
