WATERTOWN – The Aberdeen Cougars are back in familiar territory after a 4-3 victory over Mitchell in the semifinals of the State Girls’ Hockey Tournament on Saturday. The Cougars will now be playing in the state championship game for the eighth time in the last nine years.

The Cougars used a pair of late goals to turn back Mitchell. With the score tied 2-2, Rachel Siefken scored with 1:28 to put Aberdeen in front. Just 14 seconds later, Kailyn Poppen added an insurance goal, which turned out to be huge, because Mitchell cut the deficit in half before time ran out.

“It was a typical championship game. We had to find a way to get it done and we did,” said Cougars coach Rob Weinmeister.

Aberdeen decided to focus on Mitchell standout Brynlee Sabers and the strategy worked, because she never scored in the contest.

“I thought our game plan worked well. We really put pressure on them at times and created some great opportunities,” Weinmeister said. “We took away their leading scorer by playing a little 1 on 1 with her when she was on the ice. That led us needing to adjust our other girls knowing we were basically playing with four.”

The Marlins scored first with a goal in the opening period, but the Cougars responded with a pair of goals from Allison Woehl in the second period.

After Mitchell tied the game midway through the third, it set up the flurry of goals at the finish.

“Allison had the first two goals that were pure grit and hustle. Maddie (Sandvig) made a great pass back door to Rachel, who buried the one timer to give us the 3-2 lead with only a couple of minutes left,” Weinmeister said. “Kailyn got us that fourth goal on pure hustle and individual effort, which we needed because Mitchell never gave up. But even with those girls stepping up making plays it was a complete team effort with everyone doing the little things right.”

It was the third meeting between the two squads who split during the regular season.

“I was proud of the resiliency of the girls, facing adversity but maintaining composure and working to get the win,” Weinmeister said. “Credit to Mitchell, they played hard and made us earn it.”

Next up is a third meeting against the Sioux Falls Flyers in today’s title contest at 3 p.m. The two also split a pair of contests during the regular season.

“We’re going to need to be ready to play,” Weinmeister said. “They are one of the few teams that can match depth and they are playing well right now. I expect a fast-paced game. We’ll need to come with energy and work together.”

Mitchell Marlins 1 0 2 – 3

Aberdeen Cougars 0 2 2 – 4

First Period: 1, MM, Tristen Zimmer (Livaya Mimmack), 11:00.

Second Period: 2, AC, Allison Woehl (unassisted), 15:40; 3, AC, Woehl (unassisted), 4:58.

Third Period: 4, MM, Zimmer (unassisted), 10:20; 5, AC, Rachel Siefken (Madeline Sandvig), 1:28; 6, AC, Kailyn Poppen (unassisted), 1:14; 7, MM, Reese Amick (Mimmack), 1:06.

Shots on Goal: Mitchell Marlins 13; Aberdeen Cougars 21.

Goalies: Mitchell Marlins, Eva Ramm (17 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Chloe Vikander (10 saves).