Tournament jitters? The pressure of being seeded second out of 16 teams?&t;!–key-highlight–&t;.

Wednesday, February 06, 2002

Tournament jitters? The pressure of being seeded second out of 16 teams?

Coach Mike Miller refused to use either as an excuse.

According to Miller, the opponents were the biggest factor as the Tigers defeated 15th-seeded Worthington 4-2 Tuesday night in the opening round of the Section 1A girls’ hockey tournament at the City Arena.

&uot;Worthington’s not a No. 15 team,&uot; said Miller. &uot;They lost a lot of one-goal games. They pulled their goalie six times this season.&uot;

That goalie, sophomore Danielle Koopman, kept the Trojans in the game Tuesday with 34 saves.

&uot;A couple years ago when we played them, we put 54 shots on the net and she only let in five goals,&uot; said Miller. &uot;She was an eighth-grader then. She is a fantastic goalie and had a great game tonight.&uot;

The Tigers ended Worthington’s season at 7-11 while improving to 17-5-1 and advancing to Saturday’s quarterfinal round, when they’ll face No. 7 Luverne or No. 10 Mankato West at 1:30 p.m. at the City Arena.

The Tigers started strong enough Tuesday, taking a 2-0 first-period lead in goals by Laura Hillman. Amy Leach assisted on the first, at 3:27, and Tessa Christensen set up the second at the 12:32 mark.

After a scoreless second period, Amanda Duitsman pulled the Trojans within a goal at 2:50 of the third.

It remained 2-1 until 9:27, when Jasey Porter added an insurance goal on a power play. Brittany Arendt and Christine Tubbs assisted.

Hillman competed her hat trick at 12:13, scoring on another assist from Christensen.

Tonisha Standafer scored for Worthington at 12:27. Duitsman assisted.

The Tigers, who outshot the Trojans 38-12, had the game’s only two power plays. Danika Porter was in goal for Albert Lea.

&uot;Give Worthington credit,&uot; said Miller. &uot;They did their home work and played tight defense on us. They played our girls at the blue line and poke-checked the puck away from us on the offensive end. And they played great defense.

The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the section semifinals Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. The finals are Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Gustavus.