Both the Team South Dakota U16 Boys and Girls squads would drop its opening game at the National Tournament on Thursday as the boys lost 3-2 to the Vermont St. Pats while the girls were shutout 5-0 to Sno-King Jr. Thunderbirds.
For Team SD U16 boys, they would take a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period by goals from Sioux Falls’ Alexander Chan and Aberdeen’s Jaxon Danielson. However, a power play goal by Vermont would get them on the board in the second period and then a goal with eight seconds remaining tied the game at 2-2 heading into the third. In the third period, another last minute goal would doom Team SD as Vermont scored on the power play with 53 seconds remaining. Team SD outshot Vermont 22-21 in the loss.
Team South Dakota U16 girls would give up a shorthanded goal early in the first period and the route would be on. Sno-King would score two more goals in the first period with its third goal coming with only 18 seconds left in the period. The Jr. Thunderbirds added two more goals in the second period and hit cruise control to win the game 5-0 to start the tournament at 1-0. However, it wasn’t yet for Team South Dakota peppering 44 shots on net. Brookings’ Rorii Quam had 27 saves in net for Team SD.
Team South Dakota’s tournaments aren’t over by any means yet. The boys will play at 3:15 Central Time on Friday against 1-0 Atlanta Fire. The girls will face the Nashville Jr. Predators at 6:40 Central Time.
