ROCHESTER – It wasn’t the first time coach Mike Miller had a little heart-to-heart talk with the Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team, and it wasn’t the first time the Tigers responded positively.

Leading Rochester Mayo 1-0 but skating a little sluggish at the end of the first period, Miller’s first-intermission speech was all about hustle.

“We had a little talk about skating hard, and the girls played a much better second period than they have in a while,” said Miller.

They went on to a 5-0 victory at Rochester Thursday night in the final game of the regular season.

The Tigers finished 12-3 in the Big Nine, good for third place behind Owatonna and Rochester John Marshall, and they’re 18-7 overall. The Spartans finished 7-7 in the conference and fell to 10-13 overall.

Miller said the Tigers started strong, keeping the puck in Mayo’s end of the rink for the first few shifts, but the Spartans went on to outshoot them 10-8 and take the momentum into the second period.

The Tigers, according to Miller, controlled play from that point.

“In the third period, we went out and dominated because the girls worked their tails off – all three lines, all five of our defenders, and we got good goaltending,” said Miller. “I was very happy with that and very proud of the girls. That’s the kind of team they can be. When they play hard, they can play with anybody in the state.”

The lone first-period goal came from a familiar source, leading scorer Laura Hillman. It came at the end of a nice passing play, according to Miller, with assists going to Amy Leach and Brittany Arendt. Hillman beat the goalie low.

Leach scored at 4:30 of the second period, assisted by Hillman and Arendt.

Sarah Jensen scored shorthanded at 3:38 of the third. Hillman assisted.

Arendt added an unassisted goal at 7:03 and, at 9:26, Tessa Christensen scored a power-play goal on an assist from Hillman.

The Tigers outshot Mayo 34-29, including 17-5 in the third period.

Danika Porter was in goal for her fifth shutout of the season and the Tigers’ sixth.

The Tigers, seeded third in the Section 1A tournament, host 14th-seeded Marshall in the opening round Tuesday at 7:30 at the City Arena.