By The Aberdeen Cougars boys hockey team split two league games last weekend at the Odde Ice Center.
They fell to Brookings 4-0 on Saturday, Dec. 27 as they had a tough time generating offense.
Trailing 1-0 after the first period, Aberdeen surrendered three goals in the second. The Rangers capitalized on two penalties, scoring a pair of power play goals to make it 3-0.
Aberdeen defenseman Jaxon Danielson knocks the puck away from the Cougar goal during the second period against the Brookings Rangers Saturday, Dec. 27 inside the Odde Ice Center. Brookings won 4-0. Aberdeen Insider photo by Robb Garofalo.
The Cougars committed six penalties in the second period.
“Penalties were an issue (Saturday),” said head coach Dana Myhre. “A couple of them were guys playing the puck and wound up with a trip. I mean it happens. Unfortunately, it happened too many times in that second period and (Brookings) scored on two of them. It just got away from us. The last couple of games we did a good job of keeping the penalties to a minimum.”
Myhre said he liked his team’s energy at the start of the game despite managing just two shots in the first period. Brookings outshot Aberdeen 22-5 through the first two periods.
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“They did a good job taking away our time and space, and we didn’t really handle that well. I thought we adjusted throughout the game, but just not good enough. We didn’t do a good job getting the puck to their net. We didn’t move the puck as much as I’d like. Brookings was just very aggressive and won most of the one-on-one battles to get loose pucks,” Myhre said.
The Cougars played better in the final period, yielding just two shots on goal.
“It was a little too late, but it was a good way to end. They didn’t quit playing, and I thought we out-worked them in the third, we just couldn’t get a couple shots to get through,” Myhre said.
On Friday, Dec. 26, it was Aberdeen that netted four goals in a 4-2 victory against Watertown.
Carter Vilhauer netted the opening goal of the game just 4:20 in and capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 18 seconds to play.
Derek Holland and Trayke Roehrich scored second-period goals for Aberdeen.
Andrew Weisenberger had 15 saves in goal to log the win for Aberdeen, now 2-5 in league play.
The Cougars return to the ice Saturday, Jan. 10 when they host the Sioux Center Storm.
Girls log two wins in North Dakota
The Aberdeen girls opened 2026 with a pair of victories in North Dakota.
On Saturday, Dec. 3, the Cougars defeated West Fargo United 3-0. That was after picking up a 2-1 triumph against the same foe on Friday, Dec. 2.
Aberdeen won one of three games leading up to the new year, downing Mitchell 3-2 on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Odde Ice Center.
Calley Gage scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second period.
Kaylee Dixon and Chloecherie Heagley found the net in the first period as Aberdeen built a 2-0 advantage.
Cougar goaltender Chloe Vikander turned back 21 shots to secure the win.
On Sunday, Dec. 28, the Cougars fell to Sioux Falls 8-1 at the Odde Ice Center. Leah Kranzler scored Aberdeen’s lone goal.
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The Flyers had 55 shots on goal and had a 7-0 lead with about four minutes left in the second period.
Aberdeen dropped a 4-0 decision to Brookings on Friday, Dec. 26 in Brookings. The Rangers led 3-0 after the first period and finished with 40 shots on goal.
The Cougars return to league action Saturday, Jan. 17, hosting Sioux Center.
