SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – The Aberdeen Cougars put an exclamation point on a weekend boys’ hockey sweep of the Sioux Center Storm on Sunday.

Following an 8-0 win on Saturday, the Cougars recorded an 11-0 league victory.

While the scores of the two games were similar, Aberdeen played much better in the rematch, according to coach Chris Medill.

“We were definitely a lot sharper today,” Medill said. “The passes were much more crisp and I thought we had a lot more poise with the puck on our sticks. We worked on the power play quite a bit last week and I saw noted improvements in that area as well.”

Aberdeen jumped out to an early advantage with four goals in the first period, and concluded the game by tacking on six more goals in the third period, after one goal in the second.

Micah Kranzler had a hat trick for the Cougars, while Jack Podoll found the back of the net twice, and Karsten Jeschke finished with four assists.

The Cougars, 10-6 in league play, have a challenging weekend coming up, playing Oahe at Pierre on Friday night, before returning home to host both Sioux Falls squads on Saturday and Sunday at the Odde Ice Center.

“None of the three games this weekend will be easy. Oahe always plays us tough, as we hadn’t beat them in a number of years until last year,” Medill said. “They have a number of good players, but are led by Dylan Dodson and Keegan Kitts who have combined for 32 goals in 15 games, so we need to keep an eye on those two all of the time.”

The Cougars will host Sioux Falls East on Saturday, a team that Aberdeen lost to 3-0. East is one spot ahead of Aberdeen in the league standings.

West is currently in second in the state league standings.

“Fortunately, the only blemish on their record came from a 3-2 defeat that we handed them back in December,” Medill said.

Both Sioux Falls squads present a challenge.

“The Sioux Falls teams play a similar style of hockey,” Medill said. “They’re going to get pucks deep in their offensive zone and be really hard on the forecheck. They both play with really good space and create a lot of confusion, but we are excited for the challenge.”

Aberdeen Cougars 4 1 6 – 11

Sioux Center Storm 0 0 0 – 0

First Period: 1, AC, Micah Kranzler (Drake Witte, Karsten Jeschke), 15:06; 2, AC, Jack Podoll (Derek Holland), 13:52; 3, AC, Jeschke (Lleyton Kleffman), 3:58; 4, AC, Trayke Roehrich (Devon Fischbach, Aiden Posthumus), :32.

Second Period: 5, AC, Kranzler (Witte), 11:32.

Third Period: 6, AC, Briggs Medill (Logan Fischbach, Jeschke), 16:43; 7 AC, Kleffman (Roehrich, Posthumus), 9:28; 8, AC, L. Fischbach (Jeschke, Medill), 5:31; 9, Holland (Podoll), 3:03; 10, Podoll (Jeschke); 11, AC, Kranzler (Patrick Severson, Witte), :44.

Shots on Goal: Aberdeen Cougars 51; Sioux Center Storm 14.

Goalies: Aberdeen Cougars, Carson Hundstad (14 saves); Sioux Center Storm, Isaac Beller (40 saves).