PIERRE — The Pierre Capitals looked like a team rounding into regular season shape over the weekend, dropping their first contest before rallying to win their final three games of the Rooster Cup tournament.

The Caps dropped their opener to Brookings 3-2 on Saturday before rallying to defeat College Luis Riel (Winnipeg) 4-3. Pierre then played a pair of home games, downing Sioux Falls 8-0 and Billings, Mont. 6-0.

“We got better and better as we went,” Pierre coach Rob Kittay said. “We came out kind of flat in the first game, but we got back in it and continued to play better all weekend.”

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Against Brookings, the Rangers scored an early goal and took a 2-0 lead to the dressing room after two periods. But Pierre scored twice in the third to make things interesting.

“Brookings was skating pretty hard, and it took us a bit, but we figured out we could skate with them,” Kittay said.

The Capitals then ran into a stout goaltender in the contest against College Luis Riel. Pierre outshot the team from the French-language school in Winnipeg 56-11, but needed a goal late in the third period to escape with the win.

“Kris Hewlett got one for us from a pretty shallow angle, but he said he saw some net up high and he got it in,” Kittay said. “Any time you take that many shots and only come away with four goals, the goaltender played pretty well.”

Pierre then returned home for an interesting matchup with Sioux Falls. The defending state champion Flyers sent their top team outside of South Dakota this season.

After a period of feeling each other out, Pierre made quick work of the Sioux Falls SDAHA squad, pumping in five goals in the second period and cruising to an 8-0 win.

“They’re a little undermanned because of what Sioux Falls felt like they had to do with their team this season,” Kittay said. “I don’t think they had a shot in the third period.”

The Capitals saved their best game for last, dispatching of a solid Billings squad 6-0 on Sunday morning.

Pierre again scored in a flurry, netting three goals in 40 seconds in the second period to grab the lead for good.

“I really liked the way we played today,” Kittay said. “We asked the kids this morning if they felt like they had played well on Friday, and, to a man, they said no. So we gave them some things to work on, and they responded.”

The tournament showed the in-state competition performing as expected, with Watertown going 4-0 on the weekend and Pierre and Brookings each winning 3 of 4.

Team North America won the tournament, compiling 19 points to South Dakota East’s 17. South Dakota West — comprised of Pierre, Rapid City, Huron and Mitchell — finished third with 12 points.

The wins push Pierre to 4-2 on the young season. The Capitals begin league play on the road this weekend. Pierre plays at Aberdeen on Friday and Saturday before taking on Huron on Sunday afternoon.