The Oahe Capitals rounded out its season in the state tournament on Sunday after being denied the state tournament last year. The Caps fell in the State semifinals and in the Third Place game to finish fourth in the state.
Friday morning, the Oahe Capitals trailed the Huron All-Stars 1-0 and 2-1 but strung together seven straight goals to beat the All-Stars 8-2 and advance into the State semifinals for the second straight tournament. The Caps received the first varsity career goals from Jon Lyons and Devin Dodson in the win as Carter Schulz got the win in net for the Caps.
Saturday, Rushmore jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the State Semifinal but seniors Elliot Leif and Andy Gordon scored for the Caps to give Oahe a 2-1 lead after the first period. Rushmore, however, led 3-2 after two periods but the Caps did get the lead back 4-3 but couldn’t hold on as the goalie was pulled and the Thunder were able to tie it up in the final minute to send the game into overtime. 40 seconds into the second overtime, Alec Humke scored to beat the Caps and propel them into the state title game, 5-4.
In the third place game on Sunday, a flurry of goals were scored by both teams as Sioux Falls 2 beat the Caps 7-6 in to take the third place trophy. In the game all 13 goals were scored by someone different. Raef Briggs, Elliot Leif, Andy Gordon, Isaac Polak all scored in their final game as Ashton Griese and Keenan Howard got the other two goals for Oahe. Leif, Gordon, Polak, Briggs, Cord Ellis and Chris Schultz end their careers with the Capitals as they finish the year at 18-3-0-2 on the year.
Sioux Falls 1 beat Sioux Center 5-2 in the Fifth Place game as the Brookings Rangers shutout Rushmore 5-0 to win the state title. Its first since 2017.
