Oahe Seniors End Regular Season With 5-3 Win Over Aberdeen

Oahe seniors Jacob Fuerst, Nick Gusso and Riley Bren played their last games at the Expo Center as the Capitals turned in a solid performance in defeating Aberdeen 5-3.

Peter Sanchez was the star on offense for the Caps with three goals and an assist, while Matt Pease stopped 29 of 32 Cougar shots on goal.

Following the game, the three seniors fulfilled a Capitals hockey tradition by sliding bare chested down the Expo Center ice.

Oahe has one regular season game remaining at Mitchell Friday before heading to the state tournament in Brookings March 13-15th.

More game photos here.

Riley Bren

Jacob Fuerst

Nick Gusso

Oahe Capital Seniors

Rushmore Defeats Oahe 6-2 in Battle of Top Ranked Teams

The top two teams in South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association boys varsity division faced off at the Expo Center in Ft. Pierre on Friday night where the Rushmore Thunder solidified their hold on first place with a 6-2 win over the Oahe Capitals.

The first period was the difference as Rushmore dominated with four unanswered goals in the period.  The teams played evenly after that with both teams scoring a goal in each of the final two periods.

TJ Nolan led the Thunder offense with a goal and four assists.  Brooks Mitzel with the hattrick was the only Rushmore player with more than one goal while Jack Oberg had a goal and two assists.  Taran Tucker made 25 saves in net for the Thunder.

Oahe’s two goals were tallied by Nick Gusso and Landon Badger.  Matt Pease was kept busy in net for the Caps, stopping 28 of 34 shots he faced.

In the preliminary JV game, Oahe defeated Rushmore 5-2 behind two goals and an assist from Josh Albright.

The teams will face each other again on Saturday.

Pics from the varsity game here and a few from the JV game here.

Matt Pease

Nick Gusso

Landon Badger

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

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

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

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

Lady Capitals Easy 9-1 Winners Over Rushmore

The Oahe Lady Capitals faced a short handed Rushmore squad on Saturday night and came away with an easy 9-1 victory.  The game was never in doubt as the Capitals scored early and often on their way to the victory.  In a bit of a scheduling anomaly, the matchup was the first of five games Oahe will play against Rushmore in their next six.

Madison Bogue got the win in net, stopping 19 of 20 shots.

Destiny Barry scored 4 goals to lead the Lady Capital’s offense, with Amy Gilkerson and Grace Nedved each tallying two and Brooke Fendrich one.

The result was the complete opposite of the JV game, which saw Rushmore winning 11-0.

The same two teams will play tomorrow morning with the JV game at 9:00 am and the varsity contest at 11:00.

More game pictures here.

Amy Gilkerson

Madison Bogue

Destiny Barry

Oahe Lady Capitals

Grace Nedved

Capitals Win Preseason Game 6-3 Over Huron

The Oahe Capitals came out firing with a goal from Landon Badger only 8 seconds into the game on their way to a preseason victory over the Huron All-Stars at the ExpoCenter on Friday night.  The Caps went on to score three more goals to take a commanding 4-0 lead after one period.  After a solid first period, the final two periods were typical early season play and filled with many penalties as the Capitals were able to hold on for a 6-3 win.

Peter Sanchez and Jaden Griese led the Oahe offense with two goals each, while Badger and Nick Gusso both added one. Goaltender Matt Pease picked up the win in his first varsity start in net. The two teams will battle again tomorrow night in Huron.

More game pics here.

Peter Sanchez

Matt Pease

Nick Gusso

Landon Badger

Governors Lose Homecoming Heartbreaker in OT

It was a tough end to homecoming week in Pierre as the Governors fell 26-23 in overtime to the Sioux Falls O’Gorman Knights in a great high school football game.

The Knights got on the board first, scoring on a 56-yard long pass play by Knight QB Luke Fritsch to Ben Johnson to take an early 6-0 lead.  But Pierre bounced right back on a Luke Snyder 73 yard run to retake the lead at 7-6.  Snyder had another big night on the ground, leading the Governor offense with 132 yards rushing on 15 carries.  The Governors extended their lead when QB Brevin Kaiser scrambled in from 10 yards to put Pierre up 14-6, while a tough Governor defense came up with an interception and fumble recovery in the second quarter to maintain the 8 point lead at halftime.

Pierre added a Peter Sanchez field goal early in the third quarter to extend the lead to 17-6, but then O’Gorman began to show why they are perennial championship contenders.  Fritsch ran it in from 15 yards out to make it 17-12, then Gunnar Sommervold gave the Knights their first lead at 20-17 on a 4 yard TD run.

With about 7:00 to play, O’Gorman took over possession at their own 25 and started a long, time-consuming drive that ultimately stalled deep in Pierre territory with 2:19 to play.  Pierre took over with one last chance, driving down the field with the arm and legs of Kaiser leading a well-executed two-minute offense.  With 10 seconds to play, Sanchez’s 37-yard field goal was just barely long enough to tie the score and send the game to overtime.

Pierre had the first possession in overtime and had to settle for another Sanchez field to make the score 23-20.  On O’Gorman’s possession, Fritsch ran it in from 5 yards out on third down to give the Knights the 26-23 victory.

Pierre (2-2) travels to Huron on Friday to take on the winless Tigers (0-3).  O’Gorman (3-1) will host Yankton, whose game with Aberdeen Central was suspended due to lightning.

More homecoming game night pics here.

 

Connor Shoop with the tackle on Luke Fritsch

Luke Snyder

Brevin Kaiser

Pierre Lady Govs Down Watertown 3-0

The Pierre Lady Governor soccer team controlled the game throughout in defeating Watertown at home on Saturday morning by the score of 3-0.  The Lady Govs played most of the game in their offensive end on the way to an easy victory.

Katie Neilsen’s goal only 10 minutes into the game was all the Lady Govs would need. Tori Thorpe & Caelie Williams each added a goal in the second half for Pierre.

The win followed a tough outing in Aberdeen on Friday where the Lady Govs were defeated 4-3.  With Saturday’s win, Pierre’s record now stands at 5-2-1.  Their next action is Thursday when they travel to Tea followed by a Saturday afternoon game in Harrisburg.

In the boys game, Watertown defeated Pierre by the score of 3-2.

More girls game pictures here.