Albert Lea girls’ hockey team skates past Red Wing in section quarterfinals

Published 2:10 pm Thursday, February 8, 2024

The two-time defending Section 1A champion Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team opened up the defense of their crown on Wednesday evening in Albert Lea, hosting Red Wing in a Section 1A quarterfinal matchup.

The third-seeded Tigers jumped out to a quick start in the first period as Morgan Goskeson found the back of the net on the power play just over five minutes in on an assist from Hanna Austinson to take a 1-0 lead over the six-seeded Wingers. Haley Austinson then stretched the lead to 2-0 at the 8:11 mark of the period with an assist from her sister Hanna. It took less than a minute for Mika Cichosz to make it 3-0 on the power play with Shelby Evans picking up the assist.

The second period saw only one goal as Goskeson scored just over a minute into the period on an assist from Olivia Ellsworth.

Albert Lea came out flying in the third period, with Cichosz starting off the scoring at the 5:30 mark on an assist from Ellsworth to make it 5-0.  Late in the period, Sydney Kolker scored on an assist from Goskeson and Evans deflected in a pass from Ellsworth to close out the 7-0 victory for the Tigers.

Jayda Moyer made 17 saves to earn the shutout for Albert Lea, in a game which saw the Tigers outshoot Red Wing 62-17.  Albert Lea will now travel to Inver Grove Heights to take on Simley High School at 7 p.m. Saturday at Veterans Memorial Community Center.