JUNIOR VARSITY BOYS
The JV Rangers won two and tied two over the weekend in the White Bear Lake Junior Gold B Tournament.
Brookings opened with a 3-0 loss to the Rogers Royals on Friday night before playing Burnsville to a 4-4 tie on Saturday morning. In the afternoon, the Rangers fell, 6-2, to Orono, and then ended up with a 1-1 tie against Osseo-Maple Grove on Sunday morning.
The Rangers return to league play this weekend, playing host to Yankton at LIC on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. and then heading to Mitchell on Sunday for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Marlins.
• Rogers 3, Rangers 0
Despite holding a 30-16 edge in shots, the Rangers couldn’t find the back of the net as Philip Kuechenmeister collected 13 saves in the loss.
• Rangers 4, Burnsville 4
Kobe Ischen and Carter Shoup lit the lamp in the first period as Peyton Stensgaard and Shoup set up Ischen’s goal and Sajen Perry helped on Shoup’s tally as the teams played to a 2-2 tie after one.
Burnsville went up 3-2 through two but Brookings tacked on two goals in the third to Burnsville’s one as Ischen and Stensgaard found the back of the net with Ischen’s being unassisted and Perry assisting Stensgaard while Kuechenmeister notching 32 saves.
• Orono 6, Rangers 2
Luc Bouchard’s goal off an assist from Jack McCarty as Brookings led 1-0 after a period.
In the second, Ischen scored with Stensgaard earning the helper as Orono scored twice before adding four unanswered goals in the third for the win, which included an empty netter.
Kuchenmeister finished with 19 saves.
• Rangers 1, Osseo-Maple Grove 1
Riley Jacobsen lit the lamp in the first period off an assist from Shoup as Brookings led 1-0 after one, but OMG tied the game with a third-period goal.
Kuechenmeister collected 20 saves as the Rangers held a 24-21 edge in shots.
BANTAM A
The Bantam A Rangers split a pair of South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association games over the weekend – falling to Sioux Falls East, 5-4, in overtime on Friday at Larson Ice Center, and then, needing extra time to beat the Marlins, 6-5, on Saturday in Mitchell.
The split leaves the Rangers tied with Sioux Falls West with 14 points courtesy of a 6-3-0-2 league record. Brookings faces West on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in Sioux Falls before returning to LIC to take on Watertown in a 1:45 p.m. contest at LIC.
• S.F. East 5, Rangers 4, OT
The Rangers scored first to lead 1-0 after a period but had to rally with a pair of third-period goals to force overtime before the Flyers netted the puck midway through the extra time for the win.
Max Kjelden scored an unassisted goal in the first period and then Cole Mahlum netted the puck with the assists going to Kjelden and Jamison Honkomp two minutes into the second to put the Rangers up, 2-0. But the Flyers answered with two power-play goals to send the game into the final framed tied at 2-2.
Sioux Falls netted a pair of goals to take a 4-2 lead before Tristan VanDeVere lit the lamp off helpers from Kane Kurtenbach and Ike Johson 9 1/2 minutes in. Four minutes later, Kjelden tied the game with his second unassisted tally to send the game to overtime.
The Flyers scored the game winner 5 1/2 minutes into the OT period to earn the win.
Sioux Falls held a 32-30 edge in shots and converted 2-of-3 power-play chances while the Rangers came up empty on four opportunities as Carter Schulz stopped 27 shots in the loss.
• Rangers 6, Mitchell 5, OT
After Kjelden spotted the Rangers the early lead with an unassisted tally just 76 into the game, Mitchell answered with four goals – two on power-play chances – to take a 4-1 lead into the second period.
Brookings responded with four goals in the second – three via power-play opportunities – to lead 5-4 going into the final frame. Mahlum netted the first power-play goal off a Kjelden setup before Ellie Hegdahl scored two minutes later on another power play as VanDeVere earned the assist. Mahlum tied the game at 4-4 off Alec Rice’s assist and then Rice tallied an unassisted power-play goal as the Rangers took the lead.
But the Marlins tied the game with a late third-period goal to force OT, where Kjelden notched his second unassisted goal of the game on another power-play chance.
Brookings held a 36-29 edge in shots as the Rangers went 4-of-7 on power-play opportunities, compared to the Marlins’ 2-for-3 effort, as Schulz finished with 24 saves in the win.
BANTAM B
The Bantam B Rangers swept a pair of SDAHA games over the weekend – 10-0 and 7-0 over Rushmore – to move to 5-4 in league play and sit in a tie for third in the standings with 10 points.
Brookings plays host to Yankton in a 1 p.m. game on Saturday before taking on Sioux Falls at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday at LIC.
• Rangers 10, Rushmore 0
Carter Merritt sandwiched a pair of goals around one by Jerret Syrstad before Wesley Koenig lit the lamp as Brookings led 4-0 after a period. Koenig set up Merritt’s first goal while Nick Jonas helped on his second as Merritt and Caden Krogman assisted on Syrstad’s tally. Noah Ronning and Mason McKnight earned assists on Koenig’s goal.
Koenig notched his second goal to open the second-period scoring as Merritt picked up the assist and then Merritt sandwiched two goals around a Ronning goal for an 8-0 lead through two. Merritt’s first goal was unassisted on a power-play chance and Koenig set up his second. Merritt and Koenig assisted on Ronning’s tally.
Trevor Pederson scored an unassisted goal midway through the third and Brendan Matheny finished off the scoring off a Kobe Hai assist as the Rangers held a 38-10 edge in shots while Kaden Gutormson earned the shutout with 10 saves.
• Rangers 7, Rushmore 0
Koenig netted the puck less than a minute in off a Ronning assist before Merritt and Pederson scored on power-play opportunities as Brookings led 3-0 after one. Koenig and Jonas set up Merrit while Jonas and Merritt assisted Pederson.
Jackson Law pushed the margin to five goals with an unassisted tally 67 seconds into the second and then Merritt scored an unassisted short-handed goal to make it 5-0. Hai found the back of the net off a Matheny setup before Merritt scored on a power-play chance off assists from Jonas and Koenig for the final score.
Brookings held a 42-13 advantage in shots as Gutormson stopped all 13 he faced for the shutout win.
12U GIRLS
The 12U Rangers went 0-3 over the weekend as they lost 8-1 to the Prairie Center Northstars on Friday and then on Sunday, 8-0 to the Lincoln Lady Stars and 4-0 to the Waseca Blue Jays.
• Prairie Center 8, Rangers 1
Prairie Center led 1-0 after a period and 6-1 through two as Savannah Barber tallied an unassisted goal.
The North Stars tacked on two more in the third as they held a 35-10 edge in shots as Heidi Merriman notched 27 saves.
• Lincoln 8, Rangers 0
The Lady Stars scored four goals in the first; added one in the second; and tacked on three in the third as they outshot the Rangers, 42-6, as Merriman finished with 34 saves.
• Waseca 4, Rangers 0
The Blue Jays scored twice in the first and once in the second and third as they outshot Brookings, 34-9, with Merriman collecting 27 saves.
PEEWEE A
The Rangers won two SDAHA games – 7-4 over Sioux Falls West on Friday at LIC and 8-2 at Watertown on Sunday – to move into second in the standings with an 8-1-0-1 record and 17 points.
Brookings travels to Sioux Falls for a 12:30 p.m. game against West on Sunday.
• Rangers 7, S.F. West 4
After a scoreless first period, the Rangers took a 5-1 lead through two as Ashton Witte sandwiched a pair of goals around a Logan Bortnem goal for a 3-0 lead. Jacob Drew set up Witte’s first goal while Talon Richter assisted on the second as Brookings converted a power-play opportunity. Bortnem notched a short-handed goal off an Isaac Schulte assist before notching a hat trick with an unassisted goal.
Brody Powers and Breck Hirrschoff scored in the third period as Hirrschoff set up his cousin and Isaac Dobesh and Witte assisted on Hirrschoff’s tally.
Brookings held a 26-15 edge in shots as Holden Richardson finished with 11 saves.
• Rangers 8, Watertown 2
The teams played to a 1-1 tie after a period as Witte scored for the Rangers off a Richter assist.
Richter opened the second-period scoring as Zach Struck set up the goal before Bortnem and Witte lit the lamp off assists from Jeffrey Min and then Bortnem and Dobesh, respectively, as Brookings pushed its lead to 4-2.
The Rangers tacked on four more goals in the third for the final margin as Richter and Witte took turns finding the back of the net. Hirrschoff set up Richter’s first goal while Bortnem set up Witte’s hat trick goal. Struck and Hirrschoff helped on Richter’s hat trick goal as Bortnem earned a playmaker with an assist on Witte’s final goal.
Brookings outshot the Lakers, 38-19, as Richardson collected 17 saves.
PEEWEE B
The PeeWee B Rangers posted a 1-2 record in three league games over the weekend with a 7-5 win over Sioux Falls West on Friday before losing 5-1 and 9-2 to Sioux Center on Saturday and Sunday.
Brookings travels to Aberdeen on Sunday for a pair of SDAHA games at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Odde Center.
• Rangers 7, S.F. West 5
Brookings built a 3-1 lead after a period as Jesse Roberts lit the lamp off a Jack Merritt assist; Kiran Vugteveen found the back of net as Joseph Wu earned the assist; and then Merritt netted the puck with an unassisted goal.
The Rangers scored three more times in the second as Miles Merhib scored off an assist from Merritt before Merritt scored with the assists going to Merhib and Wu, and then, Wu made it 6-3 through two with an unassisted goal.
Merritt pushed the advantage to 7-3 with an unassisted, short-handed goal before West scored twice for the final margin.
The Flyers held a 39-24 advantage in shots as Kade Brecher finished with 34 saves in the win.
• Sioux Center 5, Rangers 1
The Storm scored once in the first, twice in the second and twice in the third as Merhib scored early in the third off a Roberts assist.
• Sioux Center 9, Rangers 1
The Storm led 5-0 after a period and then tacked on two goals in each of the second and third periods while Merhib lit the lamp in the second off an assist from Roberts for the Rangers’ lone goal.
