Despite having 20 fewer shots on goal, the Albert Lea boys’ hockey team found a way to win Friday against Simley in the second round of the Simley Tournament.

After Simley took a 3-2 lead in the third period, the Tigers finished with two straight goals to win 4-3.

Garrett Matz led the Tigers in the goal with 34 saves and a .919 save percentage, while Simley’s Ryan Alsterlund had 13 saves and a .765 save percentage.

Albert Lea took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Van Zelenak scored on a pass from Andrew Thompson.

Simley tied the game 46 seconds into the second period and took a 2-1 lead less than 3 minutes later. However, Zelenak struck again late in the period; Kohl Kriewall earned the assist.

Simley took the lead back less than 2 minutes into the third period, but Albert Lea rallied. Jack Pulley scored the tying goal on a pass from Lucas Peterson. Then, a goal by Matt Cheever on passes from Alex Claassen and Kriewall gave the Tigers their second lead of the night.

Neither team scored a power-play goal, and Simley out-shot Albert Lea 37-17.

After shutting out Cambridge-Isanti 5-0 in the first round of the tournament, the Tigers (5-4 overall, 2-4 Big Nine Conference) are 2-0.

Look for a story about Albert Lea’s final game of the tournament Saturday against Farmington (7-3-1 overall, 1-0-1 Missota Conference) in Monday’s Tribune.

Farmington beat Simley 6-3 and Cambridge-Isanti 8-1 so far at the tournament.

View the box score in the Scoreboard: Dec. 27 post.