Kalamazoo, MI – South Dakota’s team of 14-and-under hockey players will play for the 2022 USA Hockey Tier II 14U National Championship on Monday, April 4 at 9:00 A.M. central in Kalamazoo, MI. They play in pool 2A and will face the Alaska Oilers, a rematch of the tournament’s first round game.
Team South Dakota (Team SD) won quarterfinal and semifinal games on Sunday to qualify for the championship game.
In the quarterfinal, Team SD beat the Granite State (NH) Wild 8-4. Team SD’s line of centerman Cameron Ritter of Rapid City, left wing Carter Sanderson of Pierre, and right wing Carson Myhre of Aberdeen led the way.
Collectively, they scored 7 of Team SD’s 8 goals, with Sanderson notching 4 and Ritter 3. Ritter and Myhre both picked up playmakers for having 3 or more assists, with 3 and 4, respectively.
Ritter…
In the semifinal, Team SD topped the Portland (OR) Winterhawks 5-1, outshooting them 40-17. Team’s SD’s line of centerman Riley Linstad of Brookings, left wing Jackson Heller of Brookings, and right wing Colton Merchen of Rapid City carried the team.
They scored 4 of Team SD’s 5 goals, with Linstad picking up a hat trick and Merchen adding a goal. Merchen and Heller had playmakers as well, notching 3 and 4 assists, respectively.
Linstad…
Goalie Carson Hundstad of Aberdeen won both games, stopping 22 of 26 Granite State shots and 16 of 17 Portland shots.
Carter Sanderson is ready for the national title game Monday morning.
The Tier II 14U National Championship Game will be played at 9:00 A.M. central time on Monday, April 4. All games are available for viewing online at Hockey TV (www.hockeytv.com).
Story by Nathan Sanderson
Picture by Tiffany Sanderson
