HURON The Aberdeen Cougars girls' hockey team made believers out of skeptics this weekend in Huron.
Coming into the state tournament as the eighth seed with just four league victories, the young Cougars started with a bang, knocking off top-seeded Brookings on Friday. On Saturday, a hard-fought, one-goal loss to Sioux Falls put them in the third-place game, where the Cougars ground out a 1-0 victory over Huron on Sunday.
"It was an awesome weekend, the girls put everyt hing together," said Aberdeen coach Rob Weinmeister. "I knew when these girls play together, they have a chance to beat anyone in the state."
Hailey Gould's goal, assisted by Mikayla Santjer, in the opening period proved to be enough as seventh-grade goalkeeper Hailey Huff kept the All Stars out of the net, stopping all 38 shots she saw. Aberdeen had a 10-7 edge in shots in the first period, but from then on it was Huron 31-14.
"Gould got a pass from Mikayla and took the shot," Weinmeister said. "The rebound came right back to her. That is what I tell the girls, put the puck on the net and follow your shot."
A bright spot for the Cougars Sunday was keeping Huron scoreless during power play opportunities. In the loss to Sioux Falls Saturday, the Cougars allowed three goals in six chances. Sunday, the All Stars were thwarted on all seven chances.
"That was kind of our Achilles' heel yesterday," Weinmeister said of the power play. "Today we stepped up and were able to stop it."
The future is also looking good for the team, as there are no seniors and all players will be back next season. Stella Ostrander and Catherine Hintz will be the only two seniors.
Weinmeister said the team was "on cloud nine" after this weekend and hopes the progress made this season will carry over.
"No one expected anything of them," Weinmeister said. "They came in and wanted to make a statement. We'll just continue to build on it."
In the title game, Sioux Falls was a 4-1 winner over the Mitchell Marlins, who came in seeded sixth. In earlier placing games, Watertown defeated Rushmore 7-2 for seventh place, and Brookings stopped Oahe 5-3 for fifth place.
Aberdeen Cougars| 1 0 0 1
Huron All Stars| 0 0 0 0
First Period: 1, Hailey Gould (Mikayla Santjer), 12:56.
Goalies: Aberdeen, Hailey Huff (38 shots, 38 saves); Huron, Erin Scheibe (24 shots, 23 saves)