2006 South Dakota Solar Bears finish 3rd in Northland Tourney

SIOUX FALLS — The U12 South Dakota Solar Bears AAA hockey team finished in third place at the Northland Hockey Group AAA Opener in Sioux Falls last weekend. For the third tournament in a row they fell to the eventual tournament champions.
Friday night the Solar Bears handled the South Dakota Selects 11 to 1. Huron’s Jack Mitchell had an assist and Ethan Busch poured in 5 goals.
Saturday morning the Solar Bears faced off with the Blue Mound Bison out of southwestern Minnesota and came up short in a 6 to 5 game.  Defenseman Brecken Glanzer had a goal and 2 assists in the game, and Busch added another hat trick.  

The Solar Bears earned a trip to the third-place game Saturday night, with an 8-3 win over the Minnesota Wolverines.  
On Sunday the team had to fight for the third-place hardware against a very good goalie. The Solar Bears outshot the South Dakota Stingers 37 to 12 and pulled out a win in the last four minutes of the game on a goal by Ethan Busch.  
The 3-2 win gave the Solar Bears third place. Busch finished the weekend with a tournament-leading 14 goals, Glanzer had a goal and three assists and Mitchell finished with an assist.
The Solar Bears will travel to Fargo, N.D., Friday, May 4-6, for the Mountain Dew AAA Blast Tournament.

COURTESY PHOTO
From left are Jack Mitchell, Brecken Glanzer and Ethan Busch.