The preseason talk about the 2001-02 Albert Lea High School boys’ hockey team was not generally optimistic.

Friday, November 30, 2001

The preseason talk about the 2001-02 Albert Lea High School boys’ hockey team was not generally optimistic.

Things like the Tigers’ lack of numbers and fear of an increasing inability to compete in the tough Big Nine Conference dominated much of the conversation.

Now we can talk about something else – like how the Tigers can compete anyway.

The ALHS boys opened the season with an impressive performance Thursday night, taking a strong Owatonna team to overtime before falling 4-3 at the City Arena.

It left veteran coach Roy Nystrom with mixed emotions. He was satisfied with the Tigers’ effort but not with the way they lost with 41 seconds remaining.

&uot;We lost it on an odd-man rush, which doesn’t sit well with me,&uot; said Nystrom. &uot;There was 41 seconds left and we had our first line on the rink. We had our chances.&uot;

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game, when Casey Schumacher scored on an assist by Tyler Hegwood.

It lasted all of 16 seconds. The Huskies knotted it at 6:16 with Mike Schneider scoring on a Justin Olson assist. Olson’s goal at 9:10, assisted by Andy Dahle, put Owatonna up 2-1 at the end of the first period.

The Tigers got a power play early in the second and cashed in. Adam Boelter scored it, Wade Westland assisted.

Again the Huskies answered promptly, this time just 14 seconds later as Jake Pence scored on an assist from Alex Oldefendt.

Matt Dugstad put the Tigers back on top at 13:04, assisted by Schumacher and Hegwood.

Joel Gaulrapp tied it again at 6:19 of the third for the Huskies, assisted by James Gaulrapp and Pence.

Junior Matt Tubbs was in the net for the Tigers, who were outshot 28-25. Albert Lea had three power plays to Owatonna’s one.

&uot;They’re a decent team,&uot; said Nystrom of Owatonna. &uot;We played well. We had our chances. The game could have gone either way. One of our biggest problems is when we’d score, we’d give them a goal right back a half a minute later.

&uot;It was a good game for the fans to watch,&uot; added Nystrom. &uot;A lot of nice things happened out there for both teams. We’ll just keep trying as hard as we can, that’s all I can say. We’ll come out and play as hard as we can every night.&uot;

The Albert Lea junior varsity lost 5-1. Tony Dugstad scored for the Bengals, who were outshot 38-24.

The Tigers travel to Windom for a 1 p.m. nonconference game Saturday.