Ryan Hoehn got the attention of the Waseca players and fans and, in the end, he got a hat trick.

The Albert Lea Tigers got the victory.

Albert Lea survived a late rally by Hoehn and the Bluejays to take a 10-5 nonconference boys’ hockey victory at the City Arena Tuesday night.

&uot;They’ve got one heck of a player there,&uot; said ALHS coach Roy Nystrom of Hoehn (pronounced Hane). &uot;He burnt every defenseman we had.&uot;

The Tigers had an opportunity to send it to running time, taking a 6-1 lead into the third period, but the Bluejays outscored the Tigers 5-1 through the first 7:35 to pull within 7-5. The Tigers pumped in three insurance goals in the final 1:15.

&uot;Well, we made it interesting,&uot; said Nystrom. &uot;We had a nice offensive output too. I can’t remember the last time we scored 10 goals. There were some nice plays out there tonight by both teams.&uot;

The Tigers had balanced scoring, with two goals by Wade Westland and one apiece from Egan Mattson, Garrett Schultz, Josh Tubbs, Travis McKinney, Adam Boelter, Dan Breuer, Jon Breuer and Beau Larson. Mattson, Tubbs and Casey Schumaker each had two assists. Westland, Schultz, Wacholz, Cory Ellertson and Boelter head one assist apiece.

Senior Matt Tubbs was back in the net after missing two games because of illness.

Albert Lea outshot Waseca 31-26. The Tigers took two of the game’s three penalties.

Waseca won the junior varsity game 3-2. Peter Bracker and Ben Jones scored for the Bengals.

The Tigers improved to 4-2 overall while Waseca fell to 3-3. Albert Lea, 2-1 in conference games, returns to Big Nine play tonight with a key 7:30 p.m. game at Rochester Mayo.