Aberdeen, Sioux Falls girls hockey advance to SDAHA's state finals
WATERTOWN — The top-seeded Sioux Falls Flyers and second-seeded Aberdeen Cougars each recorded semifinal wins on Saturday in the South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association varsity girls state tournament in the Prairie Lakes Ice Arena.
Aberdeen posted a 4-3 win over the third-seeded Mitchell Marlins in Saturday's first semifinal and Sioux Falls followed with a 7-1 win over the fourth-seeded Oahe Capitals.
Allison Woehl scored two goals and Kailyn Poppen and Rachel Siefken each had one for Aberdeen, Madeline Sandvig added an assist and Chloe Vikander made 10 saves. Tristen Zimmer had two goals, Reese Amick one goal, Livaya Mimmack two assists and Eva Ramm 17 saves for Mitchell.
Rylan Peska recorded three goals to two assits for Sioux Falls. Rebecca Harris, Aniston Murray, Adriana Clark and Juliana Chan added goals. Zoe Gorra had two assists and Scarlett Black and Halle Watson each one. Sydney Fornwald tallied nine saves. Brylee Kafka scored for Oahe, which also got 31 saves from goalie Sophia Peschong.
In consolation semifinals on Saturday, the sixth-seeded Rushmore Thunder edged the seventh-seeded Sioux Center (Iowa) Storm 4-3 and the fifth-seeded Brookings Rangers downed the eighth-seeded Watertown Lakers 5-2.
Evan Woods, Paige Zimiga, Aurora Valladolid and Lillie Hoffman each found the net for Rushmore. Zimiga also had two assists. Caileigh Atherton and Izabelle Brandeburg added assists and goalie Claire Larson stopped 26 shots. Sioux Center's goals came from Maci Cannegieter, Corinne McCord and Riya Brenner. Jaiden Cannegieter, Maelyn Groeneweg and Faith Van Voorst each added assists. Vicoria Pendegrass recorded 19 saves.
Kinzey Grendler's two goals paced Brookings, which also got goals from Ashton Otteson, Julissa Peterson and Miyah Foerster. Sawyer Triplett was credit with two assists and Peterson and Anna Rasmussen each one. Rorii Quam notched 21 saves. Emma Schleusner recorded a goal and an assist for Watertown. Harper Hendricks added a goal, Janel Lloyd an assist and Angelyn Birnell 16 saves.
The tourney concludes on Sunday witrh Brookings and Rushmore meeting for the consolation championship at 9 a.m. Oahe and Mitchell play for third place at noon, followed by the championship game between Aberdeen and Sioux Falls at 3 p.m.
Friday's Games
Mitchell opened the day with a 5-2 win over the No. 6 Rushmore Thunder. Aberdeen followed with a 10-0 win over the No. 7 seed Sioux Center (Iowa) Storm. Oahe then overcame a 2-0 to beat the No. 5 seed and defending state champion Brookings Rangers. Sioux Falls closed the day with a 6-0 win over the No. 8 Watertown Lakers.
Mitchell 5, Rushmore 2 — Brynlee Sabers needed less than a period to record a hat trick and put Mitchell in control.
Amick added the other two goals and Sabers, Analeigh Hotchkiss and Mimmack added assists for the Marlins. Ramm made 22 saves.
Zimiga and Woods each scored for Rushmore. Hailey Romans and Cora Pierson each notched assists and goalie Larson finished with 16 saves.
Aberdeen 10, Sioux Center 0 — The Cougars scored four goals in both the first and third periods. Alyssa Roehrich had three goals, Woehl and Siefken each two and Addyson Keller, Morgan Jones and Olivia Sandvig one each for Aberdeen.
Kailyn Poppen, Kalin Hepper and Jones each added two assists and Keller, Woehl, Siefken, Raniessa Mattke, Roehrich and Sandvig one apiece. Vikander stopped nine shots.
Sioux Center got 22 saves from Pendegrass.
Oahe 6, Brookings 3 — After Ava Kahle and Foerster each scored first-period goals to put Brookings ahead, the Capitals reeled off four consecutive goals and held on.
Emily Nemec's two goals paced Oahe. Dakota Mcentaffer, Micah Buffalo and Kafka each had a goal and an assist. Haley Fuerst also scored and Katherine Reiss, Aubrey Stewart and Mallory Lehrkamp added assists.
Triplett also scored for Brookings. Kahle had two assists and Foerster one.
Quam made 29 saves for Brookings and Peschong 21 for Oahe.
More: Three-day varsity girls' hockey state tournament set to run Friday through Sunday
Sioux Falls 6, Watertown 0 — The Flyers scored three goals in just over four minutes at the start and turned back the host team.
Nelson, Clark, Ragyn Peska, Madeline Abbott, Rylan Peska and Emma Honner each scored for Sioux Falls., which outshot Watertown 40-12. Black tallied two assists and Murray, Chan and Rylan Peska one each.
Kira Reppe recorded 26 assists and Birnell eight for Watertown, which finished its season with an overall record of 4-18-1. Fornwald had 12 for Sioux Falls.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Sioux Falls, Aberdeen to meet for SDAHA varsity girls hockey title
