NORTHFIELD — A flurry of scoring opportunities slipped away from the Albert Lea girls’ hockey team Wednesday at Northfield.

“It was one of those unlucky nights where we couldn’t find the back of the net,” said Albert Lea head coach Laura Hillman. “We had our chances, but it didn’t happen.”

Northfield was hitting on all cylinders to beat the Tigers 6-0 in the Section 1A quarterfinals.

Before the opening face-off, the Raiders scored more than five goals once this season — a 13-1 home win Nov. 21 over Waseca.

After the first period, Northfield clung to a 1-0 lead. The Raiders tacked on two more goals in the second period and took the air out of Albert Lea’s sails by adding one more goal 33.2 seconds before the second intermission to take a 4-0 lead.

Northfield extended its advantage to five goals in the third period and added its final score with 9.2 seconds left.

The game was a rematch of the Raiders’ season opener and Albert Lea’s third game of the year. Northfield slipped past the Tigers 4-3 Nov. 12 at Albert Lea.

“You can’t really compare the beginning to the end (of the season),” Hillman said. “It’s so late in the season that we’re a completely different team, as are they.”

Four seniors took the ice for the final time in a Tigers jersey: Sydney Overgaard, Anna Anderson, Sarah Savelkoul and Kenzie Waldemar.

“We’re going to miss them, and we’re going to have some big shoes to fill next year, that’s for sure,” Hillman said.

Albert Lea (7-18 overall, 5-12 Big Nine Conference) began the season with a 1-5 record but bounced back to win four of its next eight games. Three of those wins were by one goal. After wins against Lu Verne, Rochester Mayo and a sweep of Austin, the Tigers lost their last seven games. Three of those games were decided by one goal.

“We had a lot of adversity, but the girls stuck with it, and we competed,” Hillman said.