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The Albert Lea girls’ hockey team kicked off the regular season Thursday night, hosting Fairmont  in a non-conference matchup.

The Tigers trailed twice in the game, but battled back to tie the game each time, eventually ending the game in a 2-2 tie.

It was a quiet first period of play with just a penalty being called in the final minute of play. Fairmont player Brittney Lopau was called for a minor slashing penalty with 14 seconds left in the first.

The Tigers took 11 shots on goal and the Cardinals took five shots, but none of them found their way past the goalie, ending the period in a 0-0 tie.

Fairmont was called for three minor penalties in the second period. Cardinals senior Mackenzie Householder was called for an interference in the fourth minute, and eighth grader Brooklyn Murphy was called for a rushing penalty in the seventh minute and a hook in the 14th minute.

It didn’t seem to matter for the Cardinals as Householder scored a short-handed goal during the second Albert Lea power play. The goal was unassisted and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 with a little over half the second period left to play.

With just over two minutes remaining in the period, freshman Liley Steven evened the score at 1-1 on an unassisted goal.

The period ended with the same 1-1 score, with the Tigers adding another 10 shots on goal to their total, and the Cardinals adding another 13.

The third period was uneventful through the first 10 minutes of play until, Fairmont’s Householder took the lead back to the Cardinals with an unassisted goal. The Cardinals now led 2-1 with less than five minutes to play.

Fairmont was called for another minor hooking penalty with just over four minutes remaining and the Tigers capitalized on the opportunity, as senior Lucy Stay scored the unassisted power-play goal with only 10 seconds remaining until Fairmont was at full strength again.

The final two minutes drained off the clock with neither team adding another score to the board, forcing an overtime period. The Tigers tacked on another 12 shots on goal in the third, and the Cardinals added eight.

There were a number of shots taken by Albert Lea in the overtime period, but none of them found the back of the net. The Cardinals were also unable to score the game-clinching goal, ending the contest in a tie.

Albert Lea sophomore Rachel Doppelhammer was in goal for the Tigers and saved 25 of 27 shots on goal by the Cardinals.

The Tigers ended with two goals on 41 shots on goal, and played a clean game, committing zero penalties.

The Cardinals also had two goals on 27 shots on goal and committed five penalties.

The Tigers move to 0-0-1 on the season and will be back on the ice Tuesday when they hit the road to take on Woodbury.