While the goal in most sports is about accumulating big numbers, Chole Vikander’s mission is all about preventing them.

The senior at Aberdeen Central is a standout goalie for the Aberdeen Cougars and also a member of the Central golf team. Her key contributions in both sports have helped to produce state championships in each.

“I know it happened, but both of them just didn’t even feel real,” Vikander said.

While the two sports are not similar in most respects, there are numerous parallels for the senior.

Neither hockey or golf require a lot of running, however, both require mental toughness and the ability to focus during pressure moments.

“I would say hockey is definitely more physically demanding,” Vikander said. “Being a goalie you have to be flexible and so just really trying to do all your mobility stuff and stretching before every practice and every game, and working out to prevent injury.”

Vikander said she feels more mental stress out on the golf course, where she is typically Central’s fourth-best golfer. The Golden Eagles won their first ever state AA championship last spring.

“I feel like there was definitely more pressure in golf,” Vikander said, “just because of how close we had been like the last 2-3 years. … Being that fourth person on the team, that’s who you really count on to have a good score, so I would say there’s definitely more pressure there than in hockey, because in hockey you just go out and play, and whatever happens happens. You can control more in golf than you can in hockey.”

Vikander said she feels more at home on the ice than on a golf course.

“I think my biggest thing where I don’t feel as much pressure in hockey is just the confidence. I’m just a lot more confident with my hockey ability that I am in golf,” Vikander said. “I’ve never been as confident in golf as I have been in hockey.”

Vikander, who recorded a shutout in the state championship game over Sioux Falls her sophomore season, recalled how she became a varsity goalie the season before that.

“I was a skater up until my freshman year and our goalie moved and we didn’t have one,” Vikander said. “So then my freshman year I volunteered and became a goalie and just kind of stuck with it from there.”

Vikander, who had played some goalie in her younger years, recalled then coach Rob Weinmeister asking the squad if anyone was willing to be a goalie.

“He was like well, we play 18 games, we have 18 girls, so one of you will play each time,” Vikander said. “And I was like, well I’ll do it, because I would have had to still be on U14 one more year. I’ll move up to varsity and I’ll play goalie, and we’ll try it out and see how it goes.”

Before her first game, Vikander sat in her stall in the locker room quietly contemplating what she had gotten herself into.

“The first game was nerve wracking,” Vikander said. “It was absolutely crazy, and I actually had a shutout.”

Vikander is not about to take all the credit for that initial win though. She noted that the Cougars were loaded with senior talent, who kept the pressure off her as she had to face just 10 total shots.

“That was really good group of girls,” Vikander said. “We had a really good group of seniors that year too that really helped out.”

Soon Vikander was learning the finer points of goaltending and developing into one of the state’s top girls in net.

There were weekly trips to Bismarck, N.D., in the summer to workout at a place called Goal Robbers.

“Those guys up there are really great,” Vikander said. “I’ve learned so much from them. I don’t think I’d be anywhere I am today without them.”

Now, Vikander has become the senior leader on the Cougars and a cornerstone of the squad at her position in goal.

Of course, Vikander has worked hard to improve her golf game as well. She has discovered what clubs work best for her given the situation, and developed strategies for the state’s various golf courses.

“I think a lot of it is just like getting reps, honestly just going out and playing. A lot of what has helped me trim down my scores is knowing courses and course management,” Vikander said. “Do I really need to hit my driver here where I could go in the trees or can I hit my six iron and be 120 yards … but I’m in the fairway?”

She credits Central coach Kim Zimmerman for his work in helping the players understand how each course plays.

“Zim is really good about talking to us the day before, going through hole by hole,” Vikander said. “This is what this hole’s like, if you hit it to here, you’ll have this yardage in. … He’s really, really good about that.”

There’s no doubt that Central will be heavy favorites to repeat as state golf champion this spring, returning every member from last year’s dominant title squad.

“We didn’t lose anybody. We won by quite a bit last year,” Vikander said. “I think the expectation is to go out and beat everybody by even more.”

Hockey on the other hand is facing a bit more of a challenge, with many new faces on the team this winter.

“For hockey it’s definitely different,” Vikander said. “Having three coaches in four years is definitely tough.”

The one constant for the Cougars is a goal robber in net who has been through just about everything in her four years behind the mask, including rowdy opposing fans during away games.

“In hockey, you just have to kind of tune it out. You can’t get wrapped up into what the crowd’s doing or what’s happening in between periods,” Vikander said. “You just have to stay focused, just not get wrapped up in it, especially if there’s a big student section there, just don’t pay attention to it, because if you’re focusing on what they’re saying and what they’re doing, you’re not focusing on what you need to be doing.”

Vikander, who plans to play college hockey out of state next season, understands she was the benefactor of playing with outstanding Cougar teammates in the past and now she has inherited that leadership role.

“I would have never have thought that we would have been as successful as we were and I think a lot of that comes with my freshman year,” Vikander said. “We had a lot of girls that were really experienced, that had played varsity. … Now I need to be like that. Like it’s my turn.”

And just like facing an approaching opponent on a breakaway, Vikander is more than willing meet that challenge head on.