The Aberdeen Cougars finished the game strong, however, it was the start and the middle that the local squad was unable to overcome Saturday night.

Brookings controlled life on the ice for the first two periods on the way to a 4-0 boys’ hockey victory at the Odde Ice Center.

“They move the puck around real well and that kind of caught us off guard,” said Cougars coach Dana Myhre. “We were about a step behind most of the game.”

While the Rangers only scored one goal in the opening period, they set the tone for the night, playing nearly the entire period in front of the Aberdeen goal, outshooting the Cougars 10-3.

Things only got worse in the second period when the Cougars committed one penalty after another, leading to pair of Brookings power play goals.

“We got into penalty trouble, especially in that second period, and that kind of killed us, playing shorthanded,” Myhre said. “They move the puck around real well, methodical and quick.”

Things could have been even worse as the Cougars killed off a two-man power play and Brookings had a goal wiped out because the goal came off its stansion.

The Rangers outshot Aberdeen 22-5 through the first two periods.

Aberdeen was coming off a 4-2 win on Friday night, but could not find the back of the net against the Rangers.

“We were scoring a bunch (Friday),” said Aberdeen’s Derek Holland, “but now we just can’t bury, but we’ll figure it out in practice.”

The Cougars managed just 10 total shots on goal in the contest.

“We definitely need to get more shots up,” Holland said. “The goals will come after the shots we get from there.”

Aberdeen was able to double its shots on goal in the final period and had several prime scoring chances.

“Obviously, it’s frustrating not to bury all the time, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way,” said Cougars junior Trayke Roehrich. “You just got to look past it and go out there and do it again.”

Roehrich said doing the little things right will lead to big things in the future for the squad.

“I just think we just start making the little plays, just make simple plays and just bury on opportunities that we have,” Roehrich said.

Of course, playing on even terms would also likely be beneficial.

“We just need to stay out of the box, take our time with passes, and just look for the open guy,” Roehrich said.

Myhre said the Cougars have been able to play penalty free for the most part lately.

“We’ve done a pretty good job the last two games of staying out of the penalty box,” Myhre said. “It just kind of got away from us tonight.”

Still, the Cougars finished the game on a positive note and something to build on for the future.

“I felt like we outplayed them a little bit in that third period,” Myhre said. “I think we held them to two shots and we had four or five, so that was a much better period for us.”

In the end, it wasn’t enough to defeat a solid Brookings team that got out too far in front early.

“They’re a good team,” Myhre said. “They were aggressive on the puck and we just weren’t quite as aggressive as them.”

Aberdeen has a pair of games at a jamboree in Dickinson, N.D., on Monday and Tuesday.

Brookings Rangers 1 3 0 – 4

Aberdeen Cougars 0 0 0 – 0

First Period: 1, BR, Mason Diers (Maxten Jensen, Mauer Bartley), 6:56.

Second Period: 2, BR, Jay Harris (Diers, Talon Hyde), 14:36; 3, BR, Harris (Parker Nielsen, Diers), 10:11; 4, BR, Cooper Schneider (Jason Ready, Connor Buckley), 5:03.

Third Period: no scoring.

Shots on Goal: Brookings Rangers 24; Aberdeen Cougars 10.

Goalies: Brookings Rangers, Neil Trygstad (10 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Andrew Weisenburger (20 saves).