North Dakota
Balanced Attack Leads Team North Dakota to Youth Tier II 16U 1A Championship
IRVINE, Calif. — Team North Dakota (ND) coach Jared Cowan didn’t have many words to share after he had just witnessed his program’s first title.
“Not many words so far here, it was a great tournament,” Cowan said. “The kids played hard, resilient and they put in the work. They deserve it.”
His kids played nearly perfect in the 1A title game of the 2026 Chipotle-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 16U National Championship at Great Park Ice, taking down Team Wyoming 9-0 on Sunday.
A four-goal second period helped North Dakota take control of a game that featured 36 total penalties.
Asher Straus scored twice for North Dakota, while Nathan Fogarty, Ray Sjule, Tyler Dub, Carson Hogness, Keegan Brenno and Colton Lehn rounded out the team’s goals. There was one goal unaccounted for on the final stat sheet.
Balanced scoring has been a theme for North Dakota in this tournament. Sjule and Lehn became the 13th and 14th players to score a goal for North Dakota at nationals. Lehn led the tournament with eight assists, while Straus and Hogness tied for the team lead with five goals.
Unlike some other teams at nationals, the North Dakota roster came back together following the high school season and made a run to the national championship, just the third in state history.
“You’ve got to relearn how people play,” said Hogness, a co-captain. “People play differently in high schools, different systems, all that. So it’s a different aspect when you come back together and play. But it was fun.”
North Dakota’s 32-9 advantage in shots didn’t leave much work for goaltender Alex Straus, who had a nice kick save during a Wyoming power play midway through the first period that might have been the toughest he had to make Sunday. It was his second shutout of the tournament.
“It means a lot,” Alex Straus said. “Three weeks ago, I was on the other side, losing in the state championship, so this means a lot to me.”
Alex Straus gave a lot of the credit to his defense, which was fantastic throughout nationals. North Dakota allowed four goals in five games.
“I think they’re pretty good,” Alex Straus said. “They block a lot of shots. Get the puck out deep and I think they listen to me pretty well when I give them some communication.”
Cowan said he had to shift two forwards back to defense for this tournament due to injuries and they kept the standard high.
“They put pressure on everything, and they don’t give up too many odd-man rushes and they block shots when they need to,” Cowan said.
It’s just a good system to play in.”
Fogarty got the scoring started when, after the Wyoming goaltender had seemingly stopped the puck following a point-blank shot, he stuffed the puck into the goal 2:18 into the game.
“That’s what we try to do,” Cowan said. “We try to get that first one quick, and then just keep building on that with pressure and playing our position and playing connected in all three zones.”
Wyoming had two shutouts en route to the championship game, the second straight for several members of this roster. Wyoming dropped the Tier II 14U national championship game a year ago.
“I can’t give enough props to two teams from the Northern Plains both being here and that one of us gets to walk away a national champion,” Wyoming coach Kasey Kiel said. “But the fact is, out of everybody across the whole country, we’ve got two Northern Plains representatives. That’s fun.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
Submitted Photo
U.S. soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28. N.D. National Guard 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, front row, far left, served as the officer in charge of the mission when soldiers assigned to JTF-DC responded to the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner April 25. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris.
WASHINGTON – U.S. soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.
The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contribution of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage relating to the presidential administration.
“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.
As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance.
“They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”
Staff Sgt. Kirsten Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”
According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensured that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.
“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge for the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had five inside, eight outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and, alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his soldiers allowed him to move to different teams, which helped allow him to plan and coordinate with different agencies.
According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the staging of the presidential motorcade. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the president and administration officials, he said.
“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”
FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
New ballot measure guide to be mailed to North Dakota voters ahead of election
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