The effort was much better for the Aberdeen Cougars on Sunday afternoon, but the result was still the same at the Odde Ice Center.

The Yankton Bucks scored two late goals, including a short-handed game-winner with less than two minutes left to cap a weekend sweep with a 4-3 boys’ hockey win over Aberdeen.

While the outcome was the same as Saturday night’s game, the Cougars’ performance was much different.

“Man light years different. This is what we needed, just came up short that’s all,” said Aberdeen coach Chris Medill. “We played top to bottom, front to back. We played well, just didn’t do enough to win.”

The Cougars led 3-1 heading into the final half of the third period only to have Yankton tie the contest, before adding a short-handed goal with 1:56 left when a Bucks skater outraced an Aberdeen player for a loose puck and deposited it into the back of net.

“They’re quick,” Medill said. “If a puck gets chipped out, there’s a good chance they’re going to win a race, and that’s what happened.”

Unlike Saturday when the Bucks had 24 shots on goal in one period alone, the Cougars limited the visitors to 32 shots total in the rematch.

“(Saturday) night we didn’t skate to the puck as much, didn’t connect on passes, puck luck does help,” said Aberdeen senior Aiden Posthumus. “Today was better, but all ended with a crappy PK (penalty kill) goal. It shouldn’t happen.”

While Yankton still outshot Aberdeen 32-27 it was a far cry from the 3-1 margin on Saturday.

“Better defense,” Posthumus said of the key difference. “We were able to shut ’em down at the blue line a decent amount, and of course when we shut ’em down at the blue line, that creates an opportunity for us to turn the puck around and get it going the other way.”

Posthumus scored Aberdeen’s first goal off a feed from Wheeler Malsam in the opening period to tie the score at 1-1.

“He came from behind the net and gave me a great look,” Posthumus said. “No one’s on the guy and I’m sitting wide open the high slot. Just there, looked far side, goalie can’t see anything. It worked out well.”

The Cougars then took a 2-1 lead as Micah Kranzler found the back of the net with just under six minutes remaining in the second period.

“The puck was low, so just trying to stay high and hope for a rebound,” Kranzler said. “The puck popped out, just shot it on net and it went in.”

The Bucks tied the score at 2-2 with a goal with 54 seconds left in the period, setting the stage for a dramatic third period.

Aberdeen’s Carter Vilhauer found the back of the net with 12:48 left to put the Cougars back in front once more.

“I saw Austin Schmit taking it up, and I just went with him, because the other forward was behind him,” Vilhauer said. “He gave me a pass, past the ‘D,’ and I took it and shot it, low glove.”

However, Yankton was not finished, scoring twice down the stretch to deny the Cougars a win in their final home game of the season.

While Aberdeen’s attack was much better than it was on Saturday, Medill said there were still missed opportunities that played a key role in the outcome.

“Again, it was the same scenario as (Saturday). We had 2 or 3 chances that we left out on the ice because we were out of position,” Medill said. “Just little mental errors that made a big difference in the game.”

The Cougars have two regular-season games left, one at Huron on Friday, and the other at Mitchell on Saturday against a Marlins squad that is battling for playoff position with Aberdeen.

“That last game of the season is going to be a big one. The playoffs basically start for us after Friday,” Medill said. “We can’t look past Huron on Friday night, we need that one, too, but the playoffs really start for us Saturday evening.”

So what is the game plan for preparing for the rest of the season?

“Just a lot of hard work, always on the grind, never off the gas pedal,” Kranzler said, “so just got to keep going, keep working hard, and see if we can come out with these last two wins.”

The Cougars will be losing 15 seniors this year. They have made their mark on the younger guys on the squad.

“It’s hard to keep your position on varsity when you’re so young and all these older guys,” said Vilhauer, who is just a sophomore, “but it’s fun playing with the older guys and gonna miss them next year.”

So will Medill, for more reasons than one.

“To have 15 guys here graduating, it’s going to leave a big hole,” Medill said. “There’s a lot of guys logging a lot of minutes from these 15 guys leaving. … They’re just all great kids. I’ve enjoyed every minute I’ve spent with these guys the last two years. It’s been a blast.”

Yankton Bucks 1 1 2 – 4

Aberdeen Cougars 1 1 1 – 3

First Period: 1, YB, Jack Pedersen (Kaden Hunhoff), 13:40; 2, AC, Aiden Posthumus (Wheeler Malsam), 9:33.

Second Period: 3, AC, Micah Kranzler (Devon Fischbach), 5:59; 4, YB, Rylan Murphy (Petersen, Tucker Renken), :54.

Third Period: 5, AC, Carter Vilhauer (Austin Schmit, Malsam), 12:48; 6, YB, Isaac Dimmer (Maxwell Weisenburger), 7:38; 7, YB, Pedersen (Hunhoff), short-handed, 1:56.

Shots on Goal: Yankton Bucks 32; Aberdeen Cougars 27.

Goalies: Yankton Bucks, Luke Moeller (24 saves); Aberdeen Cougars, Carson Hundstad (28 saves).