Watertown, Aberdeen eliminated from state boys hockey tournament

Roger Merriam, Watertown Public Opinion
·4 min read

BROOKINGS — The Watertown Lakers and Aberdeen Cougars each suffered losses on Saturday and were eliminated from the 2023 South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association's varsity boys state tournament.

The Lakers (7-20 overall and 7-17 in SDAHA play) fell 4-3 in overtime to the Mitchell Marlins and the Cougars (8-15-1 in the SDAHA) lost 4-2 to the Sioux Falls Flyers II.

Parker Denne's overtime goal led Mitchell, which got 30 saves from Drake Jerke. Jake Bramer and Mylan Evans each had a goal and two assists, Austin McBride and Brayson Boehling each goals and Kowynn Muhl an assist for the Lakers, who got 34 saves from Caleb Schmaltz.

Ashton Eining and Mason Haack each had a goal and an assist for Sioux Falls II. Easton Mescher recorde4d 35 saves. Brady Huff scored both goals for Aberdeen, which got two assists from Devon Fischbach and one from Austin Dabney. Colton Townsend notched 26 saves in net.

In the semifinals, the Brookings Rangers downed the Oahe Capitals 6-1 and the Sioux Falls Flyers II topped the Rushmore Thunder 3-1.

Trenton Pederson and Breck Hirrschoff each had a goal and an assist for Brookings. Collin Lee made 60 saves for Oahe.

Camden Ponto and Hayden Gorra each had one goal and one assist for Sioux Falls I. Ian Pattison had 27 saves. Jackson Hobrock tallied 45 saves for Rushmore.

Friday

Watertown and Aberdeen each suffered first-round losses on Friday. The eighth-seeded Lakers Lakers lost to the top-seeded Sioux Falls Flyers I 7-0 and the seventh-seeded Cougars lost to No. 2 Brookings 5-2.

In other games, No. 3 seed Oahe slipped past No. 6 Sioux Falls Flyers II 3-2 and No. 4 Rushmore blanked No. 5 Mitchell 4-0.

Maxwell Mohr's hat trick and Nicholas Lohr's two goals and one assists paced Sioux Falls I past Watertown. Schmaltz made 29 saves and Kohl Nygaard 13 for the Lakers, who were outshot 49-15.

Owen Schneider's hat track led Brookings, which also got a goal and two assists from Ren Jacobsen and a goal and an assists from Hirrschoff.

Devon Fischbach had a goal and an assist for Aberdeen. Aiden Posthumus also found the net and goalie Sam Casper recorded 51 saves.

Third-period goals from Ashton Griese and Barrett Schweitzer helped Oahe rally from a 3-2 deficit. Schweitzer finished two goals and Griese added two assists. Eining scored goals and Trey Salonen made 54 saves for Sioux Falls II.

Tanner Kopec made 23 saves in the shutout win for Rushmore. Cameron Ritter had a goal and two assists and Colton Merchen 1-1. Jerke notched 32 saves for Mitchell.

The tourney concluded with three games on Sunday: consolation championship (Mitchell vs. Sioux Falls II), third place (Rushmore vs. Oahe) and championship (Brookings vs. Sioux Falls I).

SDAHA Awards

First Team All-State: Forwards Breck Hirrschoff and Zach Struck of Brookings and Ashton Griese of Oahe; defenders Luke Honkomp of Brookings and Wyatt Reeder of Rushmore; and goalie Ian Pattison of Sioux Falls I.

Second Team All-State: Forwards Cory Perdaems of Sioux Falls I, Owen Schneider of Brookings and Jarron Beck of Oahe; defenders Cade Edwards of Sioux Falls I and Kaleb Merchen of Rushmore; and goalie Colin Lee of Oahe.

Coach of the Year: Ben Prisbe, Sioux Falls I.

Hobey Baker Character Awards: Based on character, commitment, persistence, selflessness, academic excellence and sportsmanship. Ethan Fergel of Aberdeen, Isaac Schulte of Brookings, Andrew Carbonneau of Oahe, Luke Myers of Sioux Center (Iowa), Carter Hanson of Sioux Falls I, Isaac Johnson of Brandon Valley, Drake Jerke of Mitchell, Jackson Habrock of Rushmore, Ryan Roby of Watertown and Luke Abbott of Yankton.

Academic All State: Trey Allard, Wyatt Knopf, Ryan Roby, Ethan Skott and Jacksyn Wirkus of Watertown; Samuel Casper, Austin Dabney, Ethan Fergel, Seth Malsom and Kayden Wika of Aberdeen; Ella Gienapp, Jillian Gienapp, Isaac Johnson and Jackson Wartenbee of Brandon Valley; Kade Brecher, Kole Kalber, Isaac Schulte and Zach Struck of Brookings; Kaden Contreras, Connor Delehant, Jacob Goldammer, Drake Jerke and Daniel Laufman of Mitchell.

Andrew Carbonneau, Ashton Griese and Jon Lyons of Oahe; Aidan DeJager and Luke Myers of Sioux Center; Mason Berens, Adam Boyens, Cade Edwards, Evan Eberspacher, Drew Gaspar, John Mathison, Ian Pattison, Camden Ponto, Jack Sievert, Nicholas Lohr and Casey Viniti of Sioux Falls I; and Luke Abbott, Cole Pedersen, Alex Nockels and Dawson Vellek of Yankton.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Lakers and Cougars each suffered losses in their first two games.