The Aberdeen Cougars exploded for four first-period goals on the way to a 6-3 boys’ hockey win over the Brandon Valley Ice Cats Saturday afternoon at the Odde Ice Center. The win was the fifth straight for the Cougars.

Lance Siefken got the scoring started off an assist from Quincy Madsen. Ethan Fergel then scored the first of his two goals in the period for a 2-0 edge. Brandon Valley cut the deficit in half before the Cougars scored two more times to extend the margin to 4-1. Devon Fischbach scored before Fergel added his other goal.

From there it was standstill scoring-wise as each team scored once in the second and once in the third. Siefken scored his second goal of the game on another assist from Madsen as well as Micah Kranzler in the second period, and Lleyton Kleffman capped Aberdeen’s scoring with a goal in the final period.

While the Cougars set the tone early, Aberdeen coach Jeremey Backous would like to see a more sustained effort.

“I thought we played a good first period and then lost our intensity during the middle portion of the game,” Backous said. “We had some good individual efforts, but we need more from the team (Sunday), especially on the power play.”

The Cougars ended up with nearly twice as many shots on goal during the contest. Samuel Casper stopped 20 shots in goal for Aberdeen.

Aberdeen is now 11-7-1 on the season.

The same two teams are back at it this afternoon at the Odde Ice Center. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.

Brandon Valley Ice Cats 1 1 1 – 3

Aberdeen Cougars 4 1 1 – 6

First Period: 1, AC, Lance Siefken (Quincy Madsen), 13:43; 2, AC, Ethan Fergel (Seth Malsom, Levi Little), 13:02; 3, BC, Gavin Stone (Lucas Fogarty), 12:33; 4, AC, Devon Fischbach (Lleyton Kleffman, Austin Erickson), 4:19; 5, AC, Fergel (Aiden Posthumus), 2:49.

Second Period: 6, AC, Siefken (Madsen, Micah Kranzler), 9:16; 7, BV, Maxwell Peters (Caleb Poncelet), :48.

Third Period: 8, AC, Kleffman (Fischbach, Brady Huff), 16:52; 9, BV, Peters, 14:32.

Shots on Goal: Brandon Valley Ice Cats 23; Aberdeen Cougars 45.

Goalies: Brandon Valley Ice Cats, Treyson Boesch (39 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Samuel Casper (20 saves).