The early part of the season had its pitfalls for the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team, and now comes the busy part.

The Tigers started it in style.

Playing in almost a continuous rain at Hammer Field, the Tigers shut out arch-rival Austin 5-0 in a Big Nine game Thursday night.

&uot;I think this was good for our team,&uot; said coach Paul Marka. &uot;We’re coming into the part of our schedule where we pretty much play every other day. We needed to get things started on the right track again.&uot;

The Tigers dominated, outshooting the Packers 27-3.

The lone first-half goal was by Laura Hillman, assisted by Katie Dooley.

Dooley, Kelley Schreiber, Amy Marka and Stacy Armstrong scored in the second half, with assists going to Anna Sigurdson and Katie Stenseth.

Dooley, Stensth, Amy Marka and Kendra Olchefske played an all-around strong game, according to Coach Marka.

Annie Berger registered her first varsity shutout in goal.

The Albert Lea junior varsity also won 5-0.

The Tigers, 2-2 in the Big Nine and 2-3 overall, play Saturday at 3 p.m. at Rochester Mayo.

(Jim Lutgens can be reached at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)