Albert Lea out-shoots La Crescent 40-10 at sectionals

The Albert Lea boys’ hockey team clobbered La Crescent 7-1 in the first round of the Section 1A Tournament on Tuesday.

“We just put pressure on them right off the bat,” Albert Lea head coach Roy Nystrom said. “We set up a lot of plays in the offensive zone, and we weren’t in our zone very long. That helps too.”

The Tigers camped out on the offensive end of the ice, out-shooting La Crescent 16-3 in the first period and 40-10 during the entire match.

Only 35 seconds into the match, Albert Lea took a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior center Adam Herbst. Senior defenseman Joshua Martin was credited with the assist.

The Tigers took a 2-0 advantage when junior defenseman Kohl Kriewall scored on a pass from sophomore wing Alex Claassen.

La Crescent cut its deficit to one goal about four minutes later.

However, Albert Lea extended its lead with another score by Herbst. A goal by senior wing Nate Stadheim gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead going into the first intermission.

In the second period, Herbst struck again, this time on a pass from junior wing Van Zelenak.

“Herbst scored three goals for us. He also got an assist,” Nystrom said. “That’s a nice evening for him.”

Goals by Andrew Thompson assisted by Herbst, and Larry Olson assisted by Aspen Heilman and Eli Mallmanek on a powerplay, rounded out the scoring.

“It was just a team effort,” Nystrom said. “That’s the way it’s got to be the whole way.”

The Tigers are 10-14-2 overall and 1-0 in the postseason.

La Crescent fell to 8-18 overall.

Albert Lea entered sectionals as the fifth seed in the section, while the Lancers were the 12th seed.

The Tigers will play at Northfield, the No. 4 seed at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Last season, Albert Lea’s season ended with a 5-1 loss to Northfield.

The teams met again in the Tigers’ 2012-13 season opener, the fourth match of the year for Northfield.

The Raiders won 6-0 at home on Nov. 29.

The Tigers had three major five-minute penalties in that match, so Northfield had an abundance of powerplay time, Nystrom said.

“We’re a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year, but they probably are too,” Nystrom said. “It’ll be interesting.”