The Aberdeen Cougars took an early lead and cruised to a boys’ hockey win on senior night.

The Cougars earned a 7-2 victory over the Watertown Lakers Friday night at the Odde Ice Center. Aberdeen coach Jeremey Backous was pleased to get a win for the seniors.

“Just nice to send the seniors out with a win,” Backous said. “It’s not our last home game, but obviously senior day is a big day for the boys, and the team especially, so it’s nice to score some goals and come out with a victory.”

The team was led by Jack Podoll, who earned a hat trick on the night by scoring all three of his goals in the second period.

“I had that first breakaway, which I kind of got lucky, I blocked the defenseman’s shot, then I went top shelf with it,” Podoll said of his first goal. “The second one was a good pass from my defenseman (Aiden Posthumus), and that third one was just some little rebound goal, so I had a lot of help from my teammates on that hat trick.”

Backous was pleased to see Podoll’s performance in the period.

“The kid just works, it’s junkyard dog mentality. He’s just relentless,” Backous said. “It’s nice to see that effort get rewarded. There was a couple of times where he was in on the floor check and it’s like, man, just look at him work. It’s a good spark for the team when you see somebody out there fighting and competing like that.”

Throughout the contest, the Cougars played with an intense physicality, working hard on both ends of the ice to slow down Watertown’s front line.

“Their first line is really good,” Backous said. “They’re skilled and they’re fast and that’s part of what you have to do to slow them down a little bit is make them work through your body and we tried to put bodies on them where we could and not get penalties, of course, but just make them have to work through checks.”

The Cougars used their aggressive nature early in the first period on a goal by Drake Witte, who was assisted by Cameron Backous and Quincy Madsen. The Lakers knotted up the score with a goal of their own, but the Cougars responded with goals by Backous and Madsen to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.

Madsen said puck placement and team movement were key early in the contest.

“We just got pucks deep and then as soon as we started moving together, we started playing better,” Madsen said. “Get a couple passes, get a bounce, and it goes in, and then have one where I can just look off a defender and score, it’s pretty nice.”

Lance Siefken also added a goal in the second period as the Cougars built a 7-1 advantage after two periods. Watertown added its second goal in the third period to cap off the scoring.

Podoll gave credit to the seniors for pushing through to come up with the win on senior night.

“Those seniors just want to win their senior game,” Podoll said. They all just worked for it out there today.”

Madsen, a senior, said it felt great that the team was working for each other on the special night.

“Everybody was going, so it felt nice that people were working for me as I was working for them,” Madsen said.

The Cougars will continue their weekend at home today against Sioux Falls West at 8 p.m. before hosting Sioux Falls East on Sunday at 2 p.m. Backous said the weekend will not get easier.

“Both Sioux Falls teams are really good,” Coach Backous said. “We’re going to have to bring the same level of effort, clean up a few things the next two days. Both Sioux Falls teams are good, but they’re certainly beatable.”

Watertown Lakers 1 0 1 – 2

Aberdeen Cougars 3 4 0 – 7

First Period: 1, AC, Drake Witte (Quincy Madsen and Cameron Backous), 13:23; 2, W, Mylan Evans (Thomas Foley), 10:39; 3, AC, Backous (Devon Fischbach and Brady Huff), 8:17; 4, AC, Madsen (Fischbach), 3:47.

Second Period: 5, AC, Jack Podoll (unassisted), 14:43; 6, AC, Jack Podoll (Aiden Posthumus and Talan Dutenhoeffer), 5:47; 7, AC, Lance Siefken (Dutenhoeffer), 3:53; 8, AC, Jack Podoll (Siefken), :23.5.

Third Period: 9, W, Jake Bramer (Foley), 1:51.

Shots on Goal: Watertown Lakers 22; Aberdeen Cougars 32.

Goalies: Watertown Lakers, Kohl Nygaard (25 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Colton Townsend (20 saves).