Maximum effort produced another satisfying victory for the Aberdeen Cougars girls’ hockey team on Sunday afternoon.

One day after a dominating win against Oahe at Pierre, the Cougars blitzed the Sioux Falls Flyers in a 5-1 victory at the Odde Ice Center.

“I thought the difference today was the pressure that we were putting on them. It was a continuation from (Saturday),” said Cougars coach Rob Weinmeister. “That’s how we played (Saturday). We were just moving and putting a lot of pressure them, but when you do that you create opportunities, because everybody wants to get rid of the puck and they end up turning it over.”

From opening puck drop to final horn, the Cougars were quicker to the puck against Sioux Falls, despite playing their third game in three days. A prime example occurred late in the game when a Cougar player fell down, got up and still outraced a Sioux Falls player to the puck.

“It’s all about effort. We talked about, one of our goals for this game was, win your shift. Win your shift,” Weinmeister said. “And we focused on, hey 30-40 seconds as hard as you go, which includes when you’re coming off the ice, you’ve got to be coming hard off the ice so the other girl can get on right away, so that way we don’t miss a beat.”

It was a memorable day for freshman Olivia Sandvig who recorded her first varsity hat trick.

Sandvig scored a pair of goals in the opening period to give Aberdeen a lead it never lost.

“I think one of the things I was looking for her, putting her with Alyssa (Roehrich) and Kailyn (Poppen) on that line, they do so well in the corner,” Weinmeister said, “but putting somebody in front to put the garbage away and that’s what she did today.”

Weinmeister pointed out Sandvig’s second goal as an example of that.

“The one it was just putting it on net,” he said. “The second goal was on a backhand and she hit it in the right spot and it went in.”

The Flyers made things interesting in the second period when they cut the deficit in half and put major pressure on the Aberdeen goal. However, goalie Chloe Vikander was up to the challenge, and soon Sandvig was putting another goal in the net on the other end as the Cougars took control for good.

“Sometimes this year we’ve been on the other side of that where we’ve been putting a ton of pressure on and then we have a breakdown and give up a goal,” Weinmeister said, “and that’s just so demoralizing, and we were the recipients of it this time.”

Sandvig was quick to credit her teammates for her scoring outburst.

“The first one, I was kind of falling and just was hoping for the best and shot it,” Sandvig said. “The second one I had a good pass from my teammates, the same with the third one. Thanks to Kaylin and Alyssa or those wouldn’t have happened.”

The Cougars tacked on two more goals in the final period to win going away as Rachel Siefken and Roehrich each found the back of the net, the last one on an assist from Sandvig.

While it’s not easy to record a hat trick, Sandvig said she gets a lot of satisfaction from helping others score as well.

“You feel more happy that you’re working with them,” Sandvig said.

Again, Aberdeen’s superior depth with three solid lines took a toll on the Flyers as the game wore on.

“They were worn down,” Weinmeister said. “They were tired.”

When asked how the Cougars were able to play non-stop at such a fast pace, Sandvig responded, “A lot of conditioning from our coaches. Thanks to Rob.”

Aberdeen, 6-2 on the season, gets a bit of a break for the holidays. The Cougars are back in action Friday, Dec. 29 at Dickinson, N.D., and Saturday, Dec. 30 at Mandan, N.D.

Weinmeister said the goal heading into the Oahe game was to put three good periods together, “and now it’s stacking good games together. We’ve done that two in a row and so now we want to build on that.”

Sioux Falls Flyers 0 1 0 – 1

Aberdeen Cougars 2 1 2 – 5

First Period: 1, AC, Olivia Sandvig (Aiden Raap), 10:40; 2, AC, Sandvig (Raniesa Mattke), 8:01.

Second Period: 3, SF, Adriana Clark (unassisted), 12:21; 4, AC, Sandvig (Alyssa Roehrich, Kailyn Poppen), 2:25.

Third Period: 5, AC, Rachel Siefken (unassisted), 14:31; 6, AC, Roehrich (Sandvig), 7:19.

Shots on Goal: Sioux Falls Flyers 21; Aberdeen Cougars 36.

Goalies: Sioux Falls Flyers, Syd Fornwald (31 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Chloe Vikander (20 saves).