9th Annual Tyler Wilcox Memorial Squirt Tournament

The Oahe Hockey Association hosted the 9th Annual Tyler Wilcox Memorial Squirt Tournament at the Expo Center in Ft. Pierre on January 16-18th.  Tyler lost his three year battle with cancer at 2005 at the age of 19.  He was a unique young man who loved playing and who left a lasting impression on everyone who knew him due to his leadership and positive attitude.

In addition to two Oahe Capitals teams, Rushmore, Brookings, Sioux Falls and Huron were also represented for a total of 5 teams in each of two divisions.Following round robin play in each division, Rushmore Black was crowned champion of the B Division and Huron All Stars in the C Division.

In memory of Tyler, a sportsmanship award was presented to one player from each team.  From Oahe Hockey Association, “[I]t’s a special honor presented to a player who continually shows a positive attitude toward the game, being a team player and presenting as a leader on and off the ice. Tyler is also remembered at the conclusion of each of the tournament games. Players meet in the center of the rink, tap their stick on the ice five times and then raise them to the sky.”  Recipients of the award for the Capitals were Alyssa Stahl and Ashton Lee.

Oahe PeeWee C Earns Weekend Split With Rushmore

After falling to Rushmore on Saturday 3-2, the Oahe PeeWee C team rebounded on Sunday to earn a 4-2 win and a weekend split.

In Sunday’s game, the Capitals led throughout as they scored two goals in the first period to take a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.  The teams traded two goals each in the second period and Oahe maintained a 4-2 lead after two periods.  The teams played through a scoreless third period as Oahe goalie Spencer Kelly stopped all 5 Rushmore shots in the period.

Spencer Fravel led the Capitals offense, scoring all four goals in the game.  Dylan Dolney tallied both goals for Rushmore.

More game pics here.

Spencer Fravel

Spencer Kelly

Mitchell Ends Lady Caps 3-Game Win Streak

The Oahe Lady Capitals were looking to extend their 3-game winning streak at home on Saturday against the winless Mitchell Marlins.  Instead, the Marlins picked up their first league win of the season in convincing fashion by the score of 10-5.

The teams battled evenly for the first two periods and Amy Gilkerson’s second goal of the game just 1:19 into the third period tied the score at 5-5.  But the visiting Marlins ran off 5 straight goals to end the period on their way to the 10-5 victory.

In addition to Gilkerson’s two goals, the Lady Caps were led by three goals from Destiny Barry. For Mitchell, Kyle Barrington scored four goals and Kaihlen Smith contributed two goals and two assists.

The same two teams will faceoff tomorrow at 4:00 at the Expo Center in Ft. Pierre.

More game pics here.

Amy Gilkerson

Destiny Barry

Sioux Falls Takes Two Over Oahe PeeWee A

It was a tough day for the Oahe PeeWee A squad as they dropped two games to Sioux Falls by scores of 7-4 and 10-1.

After losing the early game by only 3, the home team Capitals sought to even the score later in the day.  Unfortunately, they were unable to mount any serious threat to the visitors in the second game, falling 10-1 as tired legs began to show themselves as the game wore on.  Andrew Gordon picked up the only goal of the game for Oahe in the second period.

More photos from the second game here.

Raef Briggs

Andrew Gordon

Oahe Bantam A Over Mitchell 4-1

The Oahe Bantam A squad remained unbeaten in league play at 4-0 with a win at home over Mitchell 4-1 on Sunday afternoon.

The Capitals, who had scored 24 goals in their first three games, pummeled Mitchell Benjamin Colwell with 55 shots on goal for the game.  The Mitchell goalie was up to the challenge in making 51 saves to keep the game close.

Oahe got on the board first midway through the initial period when Kade McTighe scored off assists from Riggs Sanchez and Carsten Mueller.  The score remained 1-0 until the third period when Daniel Magee scored unassisted to extend the lead to two.  However, Drew Kitchens quickly tallied one for Mitchell to cut the lead to one again.  But McTighe scored again from Magee and Magee added a second unassisted goal for the final scoring of the game.

Colton Brink was relatively unchallenged in net throughout as he faced only 10 Mitchell shots on goal, stopping nine, to get his second win of the year.

Next action for the Bantam As is next weekend when they travel to Watertown on Saturday and Brookings on Sunday.

More game pictures here.

Kade McTighe

Daniel Magee

Capitals Complete Weekend Sweep Over Yankton 7-4

Following their Saturday night 10-1 victory, the Oahe Capitals again dominated on Sunday in winning the second game of the weekend doubleheader over Yankton 7-4.

Much like the first game, the Capitals jumped out to an early lead again on the scoring of Landon Badger.  Badger’s two first period goals gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead midway through the period.  Cody List got Yankton on the board later in the period and the teams went to the first intermission at 2-1.  List’s goal came on the power play, which would prove to be a problem for the Capitals as they gave up three power play goals on the night.  Fifteen penalties for 36 minutes gave Yankton twelve power play chances.  Also, because of the fifteen penalties in one game, league rules require that coach Rob Kittay sit out the Capitals next game.

Less than 5 minutes into the second period, Badger would complete his hat trick with his 7th goal of the weekend.  Derek Burke and Chase Bolte followed with goals within less than four minutes and the Capitals were on cruise control with a 5-1.  Bolte and Riley Bren added goals in the third period to round out the scoring for Oahe.  Yankton scored two late game goals to make it appear closer than the game really was.

In addition to List, goal scorers for Yankton included Charles Stephenson, Trey Bakke and Mitchell Vavra.  Austin Barger assisted on three of the four Yankton goals.

Nick Gusso with two was the only Capitol with more than one assist.  Brody Hultman stopped 29 of 33 shots to get the win in net for Oahe.  Cristian Slate faced 32 shots for Yankton, stopping 25.

Oahe travels to Sioux Falls next weekend for games against Sioux Falls 1 on Friday night and Sioux Falls 2 Saturday afternoon.  The Capitals will then travel to Watertown on the 20th before a long holiday break until their next game on January 10th at home against Huron.

More photos from Sunday’s game here.

Nick Gusso

Landon Badger

Brody Hultman

Yankton Defeats Oahe JV 4-1

In the first league game for both teams, the visiting Yankton Miracle defeated the Oahe Capitals JV on Saturday night.

After a scoreless first period, Oahe got on the board first with their only goal when Drew Norwick scored off an assist from Michael Lyons 5:40 into the second period.  Yankton tallied the next two goals in the second period and added two more in third for the victory.  Treyton Brakke had two goals and an assist to lead the Miracle attack and Oakley Palmer added a goal and an assist.

Remington Weiland stopped 26 of 27 shots on goal for Yankton.  Brody Hultman made 25 saves for Oahe.

The teams will faceoff again today at 2:00 p.m.

More game photos here.

Brody Hultman

Michael Lyons

Drew Norwick

Capitals Open League Play With 10-1 Win Over Yankton

The Oahe Capitals scored early and often on their way to an easy 10-1 win over Yankton in the first league game of the season for both teams.

Landon Badger scored twice in the first five minutes on his way to a first period hat trick to help the Capitals to a 5-1 lead after the first period.  Zach Fendrich scored twice in 11 seconds in the middle period to give him three for the game and Oahe led comfortably 7-1 after two periods.  In the third period, Badger got his fourth goal of the night which combined with his three assists for a total seven points for the game.  Other goal scorers for Oahe were Derek Burke, Coleman Varty and Nick Gusso each with one.

While not tested often, Matt Pease was solid in net for the Capitals stopping 16 of 17 shots on goal.

The same two teams will faceoff at 4:15 tomorrow afternoon.

More game photos here.

Coleman Varty

Zach Fendrich

Landon Badger

Brookings Earns Weekend Sweep Over Oahe PeeWee A

The Oahe PeeWee A squad had a tough weekend against the visiting Brookings Rangers, losing all three games by scores of 7-1 and 9-1 on Saturday and 5-1 in the final on Sunday.

Elliot Leif, Andrew Gordon and Raef Briggs each had a goal on the weekend.  In the closest game of the weekend on Sunday, goalie Riley Briggs stopped 19 shots on goal in net.

More pics from Sunday’s game here.

Elliot Leif

Raef Briggs

Andrew Gordon

Riley Briggs

Lady Capitals Drop League Opener 5-3 To Sioux Falls

A hat trick by Amy Gilkerson was not enough to help the Oahe Lady Capitals secure a win in their league opener on Saturday afternoon as they fell to Sioux Falls 5-3.  Two of Gilderson’s goals came with Oahe short handed as the Lady Capitals gave up 11 power play opportunities leading to 3 of the 5 Sioux Falls goals.

Brooke Fendrich and Ellen Johnson each had an assist for the Lady Capitals.

The Flyers were led on offense by Taylor Dawley’s three goals.

Madison Bogue took the loss in net stopping 23 of 28 shots while Brittany Corcoran got the win for Sioux Falls.

More game photos here.

Brooke Fendrich

Amy Gilkerson