All-Stars finish fourth in state hockey tournament

FT PIERRE — After hanging on for a 5-4 win against fifth-seeded Sioux Center in the opener on Saturday morning, the fourth-seeded Huron All-Stars were edged 3-2 by top-seeded Sioux Falls during the semifinals of the Varsity State Hockey Tournament on Saturday evening at the Expo Center.
The setback moved the All-Stars into the third-place game on Sunday against Brookings, and the Rangers recorded 5-0 victory to claim the spot.
Philip Kuechenmeister stopped all 17 shots he faced from Huron to record the shutout in the net for Brookings, which was the sixth seed.
The Rangers had 40 shots against Jacob Wehde, who was in the net for the All-Stars. He finished with 35 saves.
Maxwell Kjelden had a pair of goals for Brookings, while Cody Niklason, Austin Lesnar and Sean Sullivan each had a goal.
Brookings finished the season at 11-10, while the All-Stars ended the season  at 11-9-1.
In the semifinals on Saturday, Sioux Falls scored the lone goal of the third period to escape with the 3-2 victory.
Rei Hoops opened the scoring with a goal on a pass from Carson Duba in the first period to give Huron a 1-0 advantage heading into the second period.
Sam Siegel scored for Sioux Fals nearly eight minutes into the second period to even the score at 1-1. Dylan Fandel and Carson Kocmick assisted on the play. The Flyers would take their first lead of the game a minute and three seconds later as Grant Koerner found the net on a pass from Dylan Waxdahl.

The All-Stars answered with their second goal of the game 10 minutes into the second period. Xavier Erickson found the net, with Walker Schiltz and Izaiah Phillips combining on the assist.
The score would remain 2-2 heading into the final period.
Carter Tobin netted the game-winner for Sioux Falls on an unassisted shot nearly five minutes into the third period.
The All-Stars would outshoot the Flyers 10-7 in the final period, but couldn’t get another one past goalie Anthony Seykora, who finished with 20 saves.
Wehde had 37 saves for Huron.
The All-Stars scored four times in the second period to build a 5-1 lead heading into the final period of its opening game against Sioux Center.
Erickson put Huron  out in front with a goal during a short-handed situation in the opening period. He scored on a pass from Spencer Busch.
The Storm would use a goal by Grady Duden to pull even in the second period, but four unanswered goals by the All-Stars followed to give them a 5-1 advantage heading into the third period.
Erickson scored his second goal on a pass from Duba to put Huron back ahead 2-1. After an unassisted goal from Walker Schiltz, Erickson earned the hat trick, scoring his third goal on an unassisted shot.
Cody Ruedebusch capped the scoring for the All-Stars, with the eventual game-winner on a pass from Lucas Snyder with under two minutes remaining in the second period.
A pair goals on power plays by Canyon Brown and Lane Kamerman, along with another goal by Kamerman pulled the Storm to within a goal.
Wehde would stop 32 of the shots he faced, including 15 in the final period to earn the win for Huron.
Sunny Brown had 25 saves for Sioux Center, while Blake Cannegieter had 10 saves.
Sioux Center defeated Watertown 6-1 to finish fifth.