When the Aberdeen Cougars start play in the Girls’ State Hockey Tournament in Mitchell this evening, a goal is to get off to a quick start.
The fifth-seeded Cougars meet fourth-seeded Watertown at 5 tonight in the opening round. Aberdeen won two of three games against the Lakers during the regular season, despite falling behind in the opening period in two of them.
“That’s going to be key for us. We gotta come out hard and we gotta start with intensity and really set the tone for it,” said Cougars coach Amy Munsterman-Wills. “Those are the times where it works out better for us, too. When we’re starting hard and were not taking two periods to warm up and then finally showing up in the third.”
Of course, both teams will be looking for the same goal when the puck drops this evening.
“We gotta show up right away and I know that Watertown is probably going to want to do the same thing,” Munsterman-Wills said. “Anything can happen in the state tournament. You have to be the one to show up first and set the pace. It will be very important for us.”
The Cougars got off to a slow start to their season, but eventually turned things around after losing back-to-back home games to Sioux Center. Aberdeen followed that up with a pair of hard-fought losses to state powers Brookings and Sioux Falls.
“I think what really helped, after those Sioux Center games we sat down and had the girls get on the same page, get a little more unity … having a little more cohesiveness and what we’re doing, where are we on the ice and building a little more trust with each other,” Munsterman-Wills said, “and then with our defense what really was big with those Sioux Falls and Brookings games that weekend, was playing our defensive zone and positioning, knowing where we need to be.”
While the Cougars lost those games to Brookings and Sioux Falls, they came away with some new-found confidence.
“I think that was a big thing that gave the girls confidence,” Munsterman-Wills said, “like if we show up, we are a team that can compete with any team in the state.”
One constant this season has been the play of goalie Chloe Vikander, who stopped more than 50 shots in one game alone this year.
“She’s been a life saver. She really has kept us in it,” Munsterman-Wills said. “That helps to give our team some confidence knowing we’ve got someone good backing us up in goal.”
Vikander is part of a delegation of seniors who were part of a state championship squad two years ago. Those upperclassmen play a key role for the Cougars.
“That’s helpful that they know what that feels like,” Munsterman-Wills said. “They know what to expect going into a state tournament. … It will be helpful too having some of those older girls maybe helping (the younger girls) setting the tone a little bit this tournament.”
Munsterman-Wills knows that her squad will likely be underdogs in most of its games at the state tournament. She is focusing on tonight’s contest first. The first-year head coach said the Cougars just need to show up focused and ready to play each time they hit the ice.
“I think overall, no matter who we’re playing, it’s just settling down a little bit. I think sometimes if things feel a little chaotic, that’s kind of where we start breaking down a little bit, kind of lose our positioning, get a little hectic,” Munsterman-Wills said. “So I think that just overall, kind of settling down, and maybe just having that confidence of you know how to play the game, you know your position, where you need to be, no matter what the pace is, just kind of keeping that a constant. … Just go out hard and prepare mentally and physically to play three good games of hockey, I think will be kind of key with that.
