YANKTON – It took a while, but the Aberdeen Cougars finally solved the Yankton defense Saturday night.

The Cougars scored two late goals to secure a 3-0 girls’ hockey victory.

“I didn’t think we were buzzing around as much with our pressure as we did (Friday night against Sioux Falls). I would like to see us play with heavy pressure, which we have done at times but not consistently,” said Cougars coach Rob Weinmeister. “Today a different team presented different looks and I thought it took us some time to adjust to some of the things that they were doing to us.”

Aberdeen had plenty of shots, just not many goals. The Cougars peppered the Yankton goal with 39 shots, but managed just one goal before the closing minutes.

“We had a fair number of shots each period, but the more the game progessed the better the scoring opportunities that we created,” Weinmeister said. “Yankton has a good goalie. It was the second day in a row facing a solid goalie and we need to learn to get them moving in the net to create holes rather than just shooting into them.”

Ema Rehder gave Aberdeen a lead it never lost in the second period, before Morgan Jones and Alyssa Roehrich added insurance goals in the final minutes.

The same two squads face off again today.

Aberdeen Cougars 0 1 2 – 3

Yankton Gazelles 0 0 0 – 0

First Period: No scoring.

Second Period: 1, AC, Ema Rehder (Alyssa Roehrich), 5:16.

Third Period: 2, AC, Morgan Jones (Aiden Raap), 2:23; 3, AC, Roehrich (Alli Stoltenburg), 1:23.

Shots on Goal: Aberdeen Cougars 39; Yankton Gazelles 10.

Goalies: Aberdeen Cougars, Ellen Orr (10 saves); Yankton Gazelles, Jayda Tjeerdsma (36 saves).