It’s way too early in the season to talk about a must-win game, but Tuesday night’s home opener was awfully big for the Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team.

Wednesday, November 21, 2001

It’s way too early in the season to talk about a must-win game, but Tuesday night’s home opener was awfully big for the Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team.

And the Tigers came up big.

Scoring three goals in the first period, the Tigers went on to defeat arch-rival Austin 4-2 at the City Arena.

&uot;We beat Austin – it’s just a great thing to say,&uot; said ALHS coach Mike Miller. &uot;We’ve been waiting to say that for four years.&uot;

Beating Austin was so important it was one of four season goals for the Tigers, who were ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press preseason poll but lost their season opener 5-2 at Mankato East.

&uot;It was a complete team effort,&uot; said Miller. Everyone gave 100 percent on every shift. That’s why we were able to start to fast, that’s why were able to outshoot them 2-1, and that’s why we were able to outscore them 2-1. We have some things to work on, but it’s a great step for this program.&uot;

The Tigers’ Laura Hillman opened the scoring at 3:46 of the first period. Tessa Christenson assisted.

Brittany Arendt made it 2-0 less than a minute later, scoring on assists from Lacey Oyer and Frances O’Donnell.

Christenson completed the first-period barrage at the 5:03 mark. Jasey Porter assisted.

The Tigers outshot the Packers 19-7 in the first period.

Lindsey Sorenson put the Tigers on top at 3:02 of the second period, with Arendt assisting.

Courtney Hughes scored for the Packers at 6:37 and 12:17 of the second on assists from Kristin Faber and Andrea Petersen, respectively.

The Tigers outshot the Packers 53-29. Eighth-grader Danika Porter was in goal for the Tigers. The Packers had senior Kristina Swancutt in the net.

There were eight penalties, four on each team.

Miller was impressed by the Tigers’ offensive balance.

&uot;We had four people put the puck in the net, and a few others who could have,&uot; said the coach. &uot;Each line showed the ability to score. We just need to work on finishing them off.

&uot;You could tell it was Austin’s first game,&uot; added Miller. &uot;They came out real tentatively. They turned it on in the third. Fortunately, we were able to respond.&uot;

The Tigers’ junior varsity improved to 2-0 with a 5-0 win, following a 1-0 shutout at East. Natasha Weigel was the goal for both games. Erin Schlarbaum scored four of the six goals, with the others going to Emily Herfindal and Tarah Wrolson. Assists Tuesday were by Schlarbaum, Casey Wangen, Herfindal and Amy Marka.

The girls return to action Saturday at 12:30 at Winona.