Rangers drop tourney opener to Omaha, 6-3

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BROOKINGS – The puck dropped in the 19U Dakota Premier Classic on Friday at Larson Ice Center as St. Vital, Aberdeen and Omaha won A Division pool-play games.

The St. Vital Vics had their way in a 12-1 win over Mitchell; the Aberdeen Cougars outskated Osseo-Maple Grove, 8-1; and Omaha pulled away for a 6-3 win over Brookings in the final game of the night.

In the B Division, Omaha defeated Sioux Center, 7-3, in pool-play action.

The rest of the tournament schedule is in the Sports Scoreboard on page 14.

A DIVISION

 Omaha 6, Brookings 3

Kayla Flanigan scored off a Deanna Dymond assist with 7.4 seconds to play in the first period as the Lady Jr. Lancers led 1-0 after one.

Omaha pushed its lead to two goals just 27 seconds into the second as Flanigan notched her second goal with the assist going to Torrie Murcek, and then, Peyton Smiley made it 3-0 at the 10:24 mark as Mylie Ketterson and Flanigan earned assists.

Brookings got on the scoreboard with 5:26 left in the second with a short-handed goal after Bethany Rennich found the back of the net with Jadyn Peterson picking up the assist as Omaha led 3-1 through two.

Murcek tallied an unassisted goal to open the third period for the Lady Jr. Lancers, but Rennich answered with 10:53 to play off an Emma Rice helper to make it 4-2.

Jessica Wernli’s goal with 3:37 on the clock pushed Omaha’s advantage to 5-2 before Savannah Barber’s unassisted goal with 2:45 left pulled the Rangers within 5-3.

But Flanigan notched a hat trick on her third goal of the game at the 1:09 mark to close out the scoring.

Omaha outshot the Rangers, 30-18, as Regan Mays finished with 15 saves for the win in goal and Montana Myer stopped 24 shots for Brookings.

 Aberdeen 8, Osseo-Maple Grove 1

The Cougars led 2-0 after a period before scoring five goals in the second to put the game out of reach against the Minnesota squad.

Aberdeen’s Kaitlyn Holland found the back of the net early in the first period as Madyson Ogdahl picked up the assist before Danielle Podoll lit the lamp off a Taylor Mauer setup for the two-goal lead at the first intermission.

Abbi Slawson tallied an unassisted goal less than a minute into the second frame to get OMG within 2-1, but the Cougars scored six unanswered goals for the seven-goal win.

Morgan Dean, Kamryn Hayhurst and Holland scored second-period goals and Rhiannon Abel notched two as Justice Small, Kensington Eckhoff, Ogdahl, Mauer, Podoll and Holland picked up assists, with Sydney Hofer earning two.

Hayhurst closed out the scoring with 4:20 to play in the game as Ogdahl picked up her playmaker assist.

Aberdeen had a 62-7 edge in shots as Shelby Snow stopped six of OMG’s shots for the win and Jena Cardinal finished with 54 saves in the loss.

 St. Vital 12, Mitchell 1

The Vics put up six first-period goals and then added three in both the second and third for the easy win.

Sonya Neale, Keanna Clark, Mackenzie Ramsey and Charlotte White all scored once in the first while Sarah Parsons lit the lamp twice as Abby Neale, Clark, Callie Phillippe and Parsons picked up an assist as Kassidy Paluck earned two.

Jenna Grosdidier found the back of the net for the Marlins with 1:21 to play in the first period as St. Vital led 6-1 after one.

Abby Neale, Alex DeLello and Parsons scored in the second period for the Vics to go up 9-1, with assists going to Ramsey, Sonya Neale and Abby Neale.

In the third, Parsons, Risa Shatford and Brooke Collins lit the lamp as Sonya Neale had two assists and Ramsey set up Shatford.

St. Vital held a 40-8 edge in shots as Jade Blando stopped 7-of-8 Marlin shots for the win and Sadie Kludt ended up with 28 saves in the loss.

B DIVISION

 Omaha 7, Sioux Center 3

After skating to a 1-1 tie through a period, the Lady Jr. Lancers scored four second-period goals to take control and then added two more in the third for the four-goal win.

Caelin McQuade gave Omaha the early lead off assists from Stacie Chamberlin and Molly Whitehad but Sioux Center’s Arleen Salazar sent the game into the first intermission knotted at 1-1 as Adri Tinklenberg picked up the helper.

Omaha pushed its advantage to 5-1 when Charlotte Scholz found the back of the net with an unassisted tally; McQuade notched back-to-back goals – the first set up by Elise Fitzpatrick and the second unassisted – and Kiera Morgan lit the lamp off a Scholz setup.

Megan Kuester scored for Sioux Center with 2:30 to play in the second off a Jenna King assist to make it 5-2 heading into the third.

King tallied an unassisted goal to open the third to get the Tornadoes within 5-3, but Chamberlin cashed in on a power-play chance off a Fitzpatrick assist and then, Scholz added an unassisted goal for the final margin.

Omaha held a 30-22 edge in shots as Jennifer Baulisch collected 19 saves for the win in goal and Meysa Waring finished with 24 stops for Sioux Center.

Photo: Brooklyn Roberts fires a shot on goal during the third period of the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to Omaha on Friday night in a Division A pool-play game of the 19U Dakota Premier Classic at Larson Ice Center. Play in the tournament continues through the weekend as Brookings takes on St. Vital at 11:45 a.m. and Osseo-Maple Grove at 5 p.m. today.