What you need to know about the 2022-23 Watertown Lakers hockey teams
The Watertown Lakers varsity boys and girls hockey teams had similar seasons last winter and are certainly going to do what they can to show improvement in 2022-23.
The Laker boys went 12-15 (7-13 in the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association) and suffered losses to Rushmore and Aberdeen in the state tournament. The Laker girls were 11-13 overall (9-9 in the SDAHA) and fell to Brookings and Rushmore in the state tournament.
Both squads had some graduation hits, but also return some talented players as well as some up-and-coming players moving up to the varsity.
Here's some things to know about each team:
A new head coach for the Laker boys
Evan Witt spent the past two seasons as the team's head coach, but there's a new leader this winter in Devon McMullen, a Watertown chiropractor and former hockey player from Moosomin, Saskatchewan (Canada).
McMullen played four years of junior hockey and also three years of college hockey at the University of Regina.
"I helped Evan out last year, giving some kids some pointers. It was pretty exciting," said McMullen, who was later asked to take over after Witt stepped down.
He inherits a team that welcomes back eight seniors (Jacob Rieffenberger, Brayson Bohling, Trey Allard, Ethan Skott, Jacksyn Wirkus, Wyatt Knopf, Logan Austad and Ryan Roby). Rieffenberger had four goals and two assists, Allard 1-4 and Bohling 1-1 last winter. Skott and Roby also scored goals. Wirkus tallied four assists.
The returning cast also includes some talented underclassmen in junior Tommy Foley (7-8), Austin McBride (3-10) and Jake Bramer (3-4). Sophomore Kowynn Mohl also scored a goal last winter.
"I think we have two rosters of 15 players, 30 in total, and some of those will play junior varsity," said McMullen.
What's the returning cast for the Laker girls?
Curt Kranz opens his second season back as the head coach of the Laker girls and also has a good group of returning players.
That group includes senior Jayda Kranz (3 goals, 9 assists), juniors Rylie Redlin (1-2) and Kaelyn Melville (1-0) and sophomores Janel Lloyd (8-12), Meg Sunde (4-1) and Rachel Skott (1-4), among others. It also includes junior goalie Angelyn Birnell, who recorded 290 saves in 20 games last winter.
Additional help will come from other returnees and newcomers off the U14 team. Watertown hasn't fielded a junior varsity team the past two winters, but will again this year.
"Unfortunately will still pretty young and we may likely end up in the bottom half of state but I don't think we're going to get blown out," said Coach Kranz. "We're going to be competitive."
The Lakers have already started their seasons
Watertown's girls kicked off their season Nov. 19 with a 6-1 loss at Brookings and played two games in the Maas Ice Arena over the weekend, beating Huron 9-6 on Friday and losing to Mitchell 6-2 on Saturday.
In the loss to Brookings, Kranz scored off an assist from Kayla Randall and Birnell recorded 39 saves. Sunde's hat trick led the Lakers in the win over Huron. Kranz added two goals and Harper Hendricks, Redlin, Skott and Ayen Ding each one. Melville recorded four assists, Randall three, Lloyd two and Redlin one. Birnell had 13 saves and Kira Reppe five in net. Against Mitchell, Hendricks and Lloyd had goals and Kranz, Lloyd and Jada Jenkins each assists. Birnell made 31 saves and Reppe four.
"Most teams have one or two girls that you look our for and go guard, but I think our strength is going to be that our arsenal could come from a different player almost every night," said Kranz.
"We have two losses and a win, but the level of play from the younger girls has been great. They're going to get better but unfortunately wins and scoring are the last things to come. Still compared to last year, where we starting out is a tremendous leap forward."
The Laker boys opened their season at home over the weekend, beating Huron 8-2 on Friday before losing to Mitchell 10-2 on Saturday. The two teams were tied at 2-2 in the second period before Mitchell took over.
Bramer tallied two goals and Foley, McBride, Bohling, Austad, Muhl and Mylan Evans each one in Friday's win. Bramer and Wirkus each had two assists and Rieffenberger, McBride, Gabriel Holien, Allard and Jackson Espland each one. Evans and Bramer each scored unassisted goals in Saturday's loss. New starting goal Caleb Schmaltz, a sophomore, made 13 saves in each game.
"It was kind of an up and down weekend," admitted McMullen. "Honestly, once we get going our strength is likely going to be our depth. We're going to try to have three full lines and three defensive pairings and go get after teams. If we need to work on something, it might be our special teams since we gave up four power-play goals against Mitchell."
Who are the teams to beat in the SDAHA?
Sioux Falls went 21-0 and won the girls state championship last winter, beating a Mitchell team that finished 18-3 with all three of its losses to Sioux Falls.
The nine-team field also included Aberdeen, Brookings, Huron, Oahe, Rushmore, Sioux Center (Iowa) and Watertown.
"Sioux Falls, just because of numbers, is always going to be a team to chase," said Coach Kranz. "I think Brookings and Aberdeen are also going to be tough."
Brookings spoiled Rushmore's bid for a perfect boys season last winter with a 4-2 win in the championship game of the state tournament. Rushmore went 22-1 against SDAHA foes, Brookings 20-1-1 and Sioux Falls I 17-4.
The 12-team division includes Aberdeen, Brandon Valley, Huron, Mitchell, Oahe, Sioux Center, Sioux Falls II, Watertown and Yankton.
"We'll likely be right around where we were last year, but one cool thing I've noticed so far is a lot of different teams beating each other," said McMullen. "There will be probably be three or four top teams, but it could be a battle after that."
What's the schedule look like for the Lakers?
As is typically the case, both Laker teams will play pretty much every weekend until concluding their seasons with state tournaments (girls, March 3-5 at Sioux Falls and boys, March 10-12 at Brookings).
As always, the schedule and results for all SDAHA teams can be found at www.sdaha.org.
The Laker girls have home games scheduled for Saturday against Brookings (6:30 p.m.), and Sunday against Sioux Falls (11:30 a.m.) but then won't be home against until Jan. 21 (Aberdeen), Jan. 22 (Oahe) and Feb. 11 (Sioux Center). Besides other SDAHA games, the Lakers will also play Jan. 27-29 in a CAN/AM tournament in Wisconsin.
The Laker boys are also home on Friday (Brookings at 8 p.m.) and have other home games scheduled for Dec. 16 (Aberdeen), Dec. 31 (Sioux Center), Jan. 6 (Sioux Falls II), Jan. 7 (Yankton), Jan. 21 (Brandon Valley), Feb. 11 (Brandon Valley), Feb. 24 (Sioux Falls I) and Feb. 25 (Oahe). Besides other SDAHA games, the Lakers are slated to play Dec. 9-10 in a tournament at Minnetonka, Minn.
This could potentially be the final year for the Lakers to play in the Maas Ice Arena. The Prairie Lakes Ice Arena project has started and is expected to be completed in time for the 2023-24 season. It is being built north of Hobby Lobby, just off Willow Creek Drive.
The Watertown Hockey Association is also fielding junior varsity boys and girls, Bantam A and B, PeeWee A and C and Squirt A and B teams in the SDAHA this winter along with a U14 girls team.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Girls off to 1-2 start early in season, boys 1-1 against SDAHA foes.
