Aberdeen defeated Team Wyoming 6-5 on Friday in the annual Rooster Cup play for high school boys' hockey. Aberdeen's Logan Williams netted the winning goal in the final period with just less than six minutes remaining.
"The boys kept working hard the entire game," said Aberdeen coach Steve Salwei. "It was a good experience for some of the younger kids. We had a lot of good teaching points. We're working on a lot of team stuff this year. The things we've been working on in practice showed up in the game."
Team Wyoming had the hot hand and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The Cougars answered with a two-goal flurry of their own. Dustin Santjer found the net with an assist from Williams, and another Santjer goal tied the game at 2-all after one period.
Once again in the second period, the Wyoming squad started with two goals including one on a power play. Once again, Santjer was up to the challenge with his third goal followed by a score by Bailey Roberts to tie the game at 4-4. Aberdeen took the lead on a Ryan Bower goal with about one minute remaining in the period.
Wyoming started the scoring in the third period with its fifth goal to tie the game. Williams connected on the game winner for Aberdeen with about six minutes left.
"We've got two really solid lines and we have 10 or 11 kids that are going to see a lot of ice time. We ran a third line off and on today (Friday). Anybody at any given time can put it in the net. We have a lot of different scoring combinations. That shows a lot of hard work and we'll spread things out," said Salwei.
Aberdeen goalie Nick Dalchow recorded 26 saves in the game.
"Nick struggled starting out," said Salwei. "The first two goals we didn't cover the angle on the shot real well. He adjusted his game and we had confidence that he could do what we needed him to do. He stepped up and did a nice job the rest of the way."
Aberdeen returns to play in the Rooster Cup today at Huron with two games. The Cougars will tangle with Grand Forks (N.D.) at 7:30 a.m. and Gabriel-Roy of Manitoba at 6:45 p.m.
Aberdeen Cougars 2 3 1-6
Team Wyoming 2 2 1-5
First Period: 1, Wyoming, Dalton McCann (Unassisted), 13:55; 2, Wyoming, Kyler Yerkovich (Unassisted), 11:24; 3, Aberdeen, Dustin Santjer (Logan Williams), 9:45; 4, Aberdeen, Santjer (Unassisted), 7:45.
Second Period: 5, Wyoming, McCann (Unassisted), 12:41; 6, Wyoming, John Scott (Grant Byelich), 10:47; 7, Aberdeen, Santjer (Unassisted), 5:10; 8, Aberdeen, Bailey Roberts (Santjer), 1:21; 9, Aberdeen, Ryan Bower (Unassisted), 1:05.
Third Period: 10, Wyoming, Scott (Alec Sara), 6:57; 11, Aberdeen, Williams (Unassisted), 5:52.
Goalies: Wyoming, Jesse Gustafson, 25 shots, 19 saves; Aberdeen, Nick Dalchow, 31 shots, 26 saves.
Players of the Game: Wyoming, McCann; Aberdeen, Schyler Kumpf.