SIOUX FALLS – The Aberdeen Cougars got off to a solid start, but were unable to sustain it Friday evening.

The third-seeded Yankton Bucks scored six unanswered goals on the way to an 8-3 semifinal victory during the Boys’ State Hockey Tournament.

The Cougars were unable to carry over momentum from knocking off top-seeded Sioux Falls Flyers East in the opening round on Thursday.

“We just didn’t play with the same intensity as we did against Sioux Falls,” said Aberdeen coach Dana Myhre. “We did OK for the first half of the game, then we just didn’t have the effort for some reason.”

Yankton scored first and the Cougars reponded with a goal from Trayke Roehrich. After the Bucks scored again, Aberdeen matched it with a goal from Carter Vilhauer.

However, after that the Bucks took control by scoring six straight goals. Aberdeen received a goal from Dylan Kleffman with two minutes left for the final margin.

“We got kind of lazy getting to pucks, and our defensive zone coverage fell apart and we were leaving guys wide open in prime scoring positions,” Myhre said. “We were just chasing the puck around and not being responsible in the defensive zone. Not a winning formula.”

Yankton had just one more shot on goal in the contest.

Brayden Byrkeland scored three times to lead the Bucks.

The Cougars will face the Brookings Rangers for third place at 5 this evening.

“Hopefully we can put it behind us and come back with the kind of effort needed to win a third place game,” Myhre said.

Aberdeen Cougars 1 1 1 – 3

Yankton Bucks 2 3 3 – 8

First Period: 1, YB, Rylan Murphy (Brayden Byrkeland, Tucker Renken), 11:25; 2, AC, Trayke Roehrich (unassisted), 9:12; 3, YB, Byrkeland (Renken, Murphy), 1:37.

Second Period: 4, AC, Carter Vilhauer (Briggs Medill, Paxton Dallmann), 11:56; 5, YB, Kade Schramm (Renken), 10:29; 6, YB, Jack Pedersen (Dawsn Thomas, Cooper Larsen), 9:48; 7, YB, Kylen O’Connor (Kaden Hunhoff, Murphy), 1:29.

Third Period: 8, YB, O’Connor (Isaac Dimmer, Pedersen), 15:16; 9, YB, Renken (Byrkeland), 12:38; 10, YB, Byrkeland (Renken), 8:07; 11, AC, Dylan Kleffman (Jaxon Danielson), 2:00.

Shots on Goal: Aberdeen Cougars 34; Yankton Bucks 35.

Goalies: Aberdeen Cougars, Andrew Weisenburger (27 saves); Yankton Bucks, Luke Moeller (31 saves).