Team South Dakota 16U Girls will head into the quarterfinals as the top seed coming out of the National Division at the Tier II National Tournament with a 4-2 win over Valley Alaska, Thunder finishing pool play at 3-0.
Team SD found itself down 2-0 at the end of the first period and didn’t score either in the second period. Already having clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, South Dakota didn’t have to have a comeback, but they certainly did. Mitchell’s Makenna Tronnes would score first for Team SD with just over 13 minutes remaining in the third. Then it was a shorthanded goal from Madeline Abbott of Sioux Falls to tie the game at 2-2. It would be Oahe’s Brylee Kafka to score the game winning goal with just 1:46 remaining in the third to give South Dakota its first lead. Tronnes would add an empty netter to give Team SD the 4-2 win and finish undefeated in pool play heading into Saturday morning’s quarterfinal. Brookings’ Rorii Quam made 31 saves on 33 shots.
South Dakota will play its quarterfinal game at either 10:15 or 10:30 on Saturday. If they win they’ll play again in the semifinals at 7:15 later in the night.
Photo from Kyle Kafka
