Ranger boys come in 4th in State Tournament

SIOUX FALLS — The Brookings Rangers boys varsity hockey team’s quest for a state championship ended in a hard-fought, 5-3 defeat to eventual state champion Rushmore on Friday night in Sioux Falls.

After falling behind 3-0 to the Thunder — who finished the season unbeaten — the Rangers came roaring back in the third period, bringing the score to 4-3. Brookings got its goalie pulled and had several chances to tie the game in the 6-5 before Rushmore hit the empty net with 15 seconds left to seal the win.

“I think we had some nerves again early, but I was overall happy with the effort on Friday,” Brookings coach Garrett Gerstner said. “We battled back hard and we really got to our game in that third period. We just needed two more just like it.”

Parker Nielsen stole a puck with an active stick and went in and scored on the backhand to make it 3-1 Rushmore and stop the bleeding for Brookings at the end of the second period.

Then, after Rapid’s Wyatt Reeder made it 4-1 early in the third, the Rangers got goals from Jackson Heller and Jay Harris to give themselves a chance. Brookings forced a draw in the Rapid City end and pulled goaltender Neil Trygstad for the 6-5 advantage.

The Rangers got pucks to the net, but a blown subsequent draw led to an easy chance for Rushmore and the empty net.

“They’re a good hockey team, and if you take even 1 or 2 shifts off, it’s going in the back of your net,” Gerstner said.

Rushmore went on to defeat Yankton 8-3 in a blowout state final. The Thunder finished their regular schedule 34-0.

For the Rangers in the semifinal, Nielsen, Mauer Bartley, Jackson Heller and Nolan Krogman had assists.

Trygstad was outstanding in goal, keeping the Rangers close despite a barrage of quality chances. He finished with 26 saves on 30 shots.

The Rangers advanced to the winner’s bracket on Thursday with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Sioux Falls West to punch their ticket to the state semifinals.

Down 2-1 in the waning minutes, Gerstner pulled goaltender Neil Trygstad in favor of the extra attacker, and the Rangers made it work when Jay Harris banged home a loose puck after a goalmouth scramble with 1:07 to play.

Feeling the momentum, Brookings got the winner just 1:11 into the extra session when Jason Ready got a stick on a high shot from the point by Caleb Johnson deflected it into the net below the Sioux Falls netminder’s glove.

Gerstner said he was happy to see his team get rewarded with a pair of effort goals and, ultimately, the win.

“We had a little bit of a nervous start, it felt like, and their first two were a couple unfortunate bounces. I didn’t think we were playing too bad,” Gerstner said.

“But we have been preaching it all year — hard work just cannot be replaced. Get it below the dots, go low to high and then someone has to get to the front of the net.”

On the game tying goal, the someone was Harris, who worked for position in front of the net for the entire time after Brookings pulled its goalie with a little less than three minutes to play and a faceoff in the Sioux Falls West zone.

A shot from out high hit traffic in front and Harris was able to spin and fire it low and home to send the game to the extra session.

“It wasn’t going to be a tic-tac-toe,” Gerstner said. “They have some big, strong defensemen that make it tough out front, but we found a way.”

The Rangers initially fell behind 1-0 with 7:52 remaining in the first. But the next shift, the Rangers cycled the puck down low and put sustained pressure on the West defense. The line of Jack Lovseth centering Waylon Carroll and Carson Kludt came back to score on their next shift and change the tenor of the game.

“They were rock solid all night,” Gerstner said. “And that was a late decision, we had some kids out, but they played phenomenal. They brought that Ranger attitude and intensity we talk about.”

Lovseth scored that goal assisted by Kludt and defenseman Johnson.

Sioux Falls West got the only goal of the second, setting up the late-game heroics from the Rangers. They outshot Brookings 13-6 in the middle frame.

The Rangers also got a strong goaltending performance from Neil Trygstad, who turned away 24 of 26 West shots in earning the win.

“You have to get solid goaltending and we have full faith in Neil,” Gerstner said. “He gave us a really good performance tonight.”

The assists on Harris’ goal with the net empty went to Nolan Krogman and Talon Hyde. Just before that tally, West took a shot at the empty net that narrowly missed, hitting the outside of the far post for an icing.
Brookings lost the third-place game to Aberdeen, 4-2, on Saturday. The Rangers led 2-0 after two periods but watched the Cougars score four unanswered goals in the third to take the win.

“Saturday was a tough one,” Gerstner said. “We pretty well controlled the game for two periods, and then we lost a guy off a draw and then turn the puck over on the power play and all of a sudden it’s tied,” Gerstner said. “There was a lot of emotion on Thursday and Friday and we just didn’t handle it well at the end there, but like we told the kids, it’s the state tournament. Take even a second off and teams are going to make you pay.”

Workhorse Harris scored for the Rangers in the first period with assists credited to Heller and Hyde.
Bartley put Brookings up 2-0 on the power play in the second when his shot from the point found the net with just 45 seconds left to play. Credit assists to Carson Kludt and Caleb Johnson.

Ryder Anderson was in net for the Rangers, stopping 12 of 16 shots in the finale. Brookings finished the season 21-11-3.

Linehan is the Beacon’s managing editor and welcomes tips and comments at BrookingsBeacon@gmail.com