A two-goal lead quickly deteriorated Thursday for the Albert Lea boys’ hockey team as Red Wing rallied quickly to end the Tigers season with a 5-2 victory at City Arena.

Fourth-seeded Albert Lea (12-12-1) held a 2-0 lead in the first period after Mason Tuohy scored a shorthanded goal at 9 minutes, 28 seconds, but the remaining 44:32 belonged to the fifth-seeded Wingers (14-13) who bounced the Tigers from the Section 1A playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Red Wing came into the game with some momentum, having knocked off South St. Paul and University of Minnesota goalie recruit Adam Wilcox 3-2 and blew out LaCrescent 14-1 in the play-in game Tuesday.

Albert Lea came into the playoffs reeling, having lost two of its past three games to teams the Tigers previously defeated.

“They outplayed us,” said Albert Lea head coach Roy Nystrom. “It seems to me that they were Johnny-on-the-spot a lot more than we were and the chances that we had we kind of muffed them.”

Albert Lea’s two-goal lead didn’t last very long as Red Wing scored the next five goals of the game and took control of the game in the second and third periods.

Josh Mensing scored 25 seconds after Tuohy’s goal on the power-play to cut the Albert Lea lead in half and Patrick Noesen scored the first of his two goals at the 12-minute mark to tie the game.

Noesen’s second goal gave the Wingers a 3-2 lead despite being outshot 13-9 in the period and seemed to deflate the Tigers.

“We jumped out to a 2-0 lead and we gave them two goals immediately right off the faceoff and that kind of hurt us pretty badly,” Nystrom said. “We didn’t pick up our people and we gave them a couple of real easy goals, but they beat us to the puck.”

Noesen found himself all alone in the slot for both of his goals while Jack Strusz scored a breakaway goal in the second period and Marcus Noesen wasn’t picked up in front of the net for the fifth Red Wing goal.

The Wingers outshot Albert Lea 25-16 in the final two periods and 34-29 for the game. Red Wing held a 13-6 shot advantage in the second period and controlled play in the Albert Lea zone for the majority of the period.

The Tigers had chances of their own throughout and hit a number of pipes and couldn’t capitalize on a breakaway of its own.

“I thought some of our young kids learned a lot of experience this year,” Nystrom said.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, I think that we’re going to be a halfway decent club next year.”

The Wingers move on to face No. 1 seed Faribault in the semifinals Saturday in Rochester.

Red Wing 5, Albert Lea 2

Red Wing 3 1 1 — 5

Albert Lea 2 0 0 — 2

First Period—1, Albert Lea, Casey Marka (Eric Carlson), 7:31. 2, Albert Lea, Mason Tuohy (Marka), 9:28 (sh.). 3, Red Wing, Josh Mensing (Jared Nelson, Jake O’Borsky), 9:53 (pp.). 4, Red Wing, Patrick Noesen (O’Borsky, Nelson), 12:00. 5, Red Wing, Noesen (Nelson), 14:27. Penalties—Tuohy, Alb (hooking), 4:06; Carlson, Alb (interference), 9:04.

Second Period—6, Red Wing, Jack Strusz (Kas Mapel), 11:54. Penalties—Dan D’Aquisto, Red (interference), 1:55; Strusz, Red (tripping), 6:35; Dillon Stolt, Alb (hooking), 6:54.

Third Period—7, Red Wing, Marcus Noesen (Mapel, Dayton Johnson), 13:32. Penalties—Henry Jaeger, Red (cross checking), 7:36.

Shots on Goal—Red Wing 9-13-12—34. Albert Lea 13-6-10—29.

Power-play opportunities—Red Wing 1 of 3; Albert Lea 0 of 3.

Goalies—Red Wing, Sam Amendolar (29 shots-27 saves). Albert Lea, John Wrolson (34-29).