SIOUX FALLS – The Aberdeen Cougars jumped out to a four-goal lead in the first four and a half minutes of play and never looked back, cruising to an 8-0 shutout of Watertown in the opening round of the State Girls’ Hockey Tournament Friday in Sioux Falls.

Ema Rehder, Alyssa Roehrich, Kailyn Poppen and Rachel Siefken all recorded goals in that opening flurry of play, as the top-seeded Cougars outshot the eighth-seeded Lakers 21-2 in the opening period. 

“I thought we had a great start to the game,” said Aberdeen coach Rob Weinmeister. “We were moving the puck and attacking the net.”

While Aberdeen was unable to find the net for the remainder of that first period, the Cougars did get two goals in the second and two more during a running-clock third period.

Rehder and Siefken ended the game with two goals each. Raniesa Mattke and Morgan Jones also added a goal each for the final tally.

“I thought in the second (period) we tried to be a little too fancy instead of shooting the puck when we were in a good spot,” Weinmeister said. “I thought we cleaned a few of those things up in the third and finished the game on a positive note.”

With the win, the Cougars move on to the semifinals where they will meet Mitchell in a 7 p.m. contest. Aberdeen won both regular season meetings with the Marlins by final scores of 3-2 and 3-1.

Watertown Lakers 0 0 0 – 0

Aberdeen Cougars 4 2 2 – 8

First period: 1, ABD, Ema Rehder (Morgan Jones), 15:42; 2, ABD, Alyssa Roehrich (Kailyn Poppen, Raniesa Mattke), 14:35; 3, ABD, Poppen (unassisted), 14:14; 4, ABD, Rachel Siefken (Roehrich), 12:27.

Second period: 5, ABD, Rehder (unassisted), 6:08; 6, ABD, Mattke (Siefken), 0:20.

Third period: 7, ABD, Siefken (Aiden Raap), 14:42; 8, ABD, Jones (Rehder), 13:18.

Shots on Goal: Watertown Lakers 6; Aberdeen Cougars 56.

Goalies: Watertown Lakers, Kira Reppe (30 shots, 26 saves), Angelyn Birnell (21 shots, 17 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Chloe Vikander (6 shots, 6 saves).