Mitchell overcame an early deficit to hand the Aberdeen Cougars their first girls’ hockey loss of the season Saturday afternoon.

The Marlins erased a two-goal deficit and finished strong in a 6-3 victory at the Odde Ice Center.

“I thought we had a good effort, but we made mistakes and didn’t pick each other up,” said Cougars coach Rob Weinmeister. “We outshot them, but didn’t create good scoring opportunities on our shots.”

The Cougars jumped on back-to-back goals from Kailyn Poppen and Olivia Sandvig less than a minute apart in the opening period.

However, the Marlins got one of those back on a goal by Brynlee Sabers just 15 seconds later.

From there, Mitchell took control with a pair of goals in the second period, and three more in the third.

“Unfortunately, I think we beat ourselves today and probably not quite the level of teamwork we expect from ourselves,” Weinmeister said. “We weren’t working together like we should or providing puck support front and backside.”

Sabers had a huge day for the Marlins, putting five goals in the back of the net.

Weinmeister said the Cougars needed to do a better job of containing her.

“She is a decent player and has a heck of a shot, but we need to do better as a collective,” Weinmeister said. “She capitalized on some of the mistakes we made, which is what good players do.”

After Mitchell had taken a 4-2 lead just 27 seconds into the third period, Aberdeen’s Raniesa Mattke sliced the deficit to one goal just 26 seconds later on Poppen’s second assist of the game. However, the Marlins were able to pull away with insurance goals in the final five minutes of action.

The Cougars, 3-1 on the season, will be back in action today, hosting Watertown at 2:30 this afternoon at the Odde Ice Center.

“I hope we learn something from today to make us a better team,” Weinmeister said.

Mitchell Marlins 1 2 3 – 6

Aberdeen Cougars 2 0 1 – 3

First Period: 1, AC, Kailyn Poppen (Alyssa Roehrich), 12:10; 2, AC, Olivia Sandvig (Poppen), 11:18; 3, MM, Brynlee Sabers (Livaya Mimmack) 11:05.

Second Period: 4, MM, Sabers (unassisted), 9:52; 5, MM, Sabers (Makenna Tronnes), 5:42.

Third Period: 6, MM, Sabers (unassisted), 16:33; 7, AC, Raniesa Mattke (Poppen), 16:07; 8, MM, Sabers (Tristen Zimmer), 4:28; 9, MM, Tronnes (unassisted), 3:56.

Shots on Goal: Mitchell Marlins 21; Aberdeen Cougars 31.

Goalies: Mitchell Marlins, Eva Ramm (28 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Chloe Vikander (15 saves).