The Albert Lea VFW A Bantams hockey team made its first tournament of the season an impressive one.

Sunday, November 28, 1999

The Albert Lea VFW A Bantams hockey team made its first tournament of the season an impressive one.

The locals defeated three opponents at Northfield, bringing home the championship team trophy and individual first-place medals.

Albert Lea opened against Mankato and, after a scoreless first period, Dan Breuer made it 1-0 on a three-on-two breakaway. Assists went to Wade Westland and Travis Armstrong.

The score seemed to spark the Albert Lea players as minutes later Egan Matson slapped home a hard wrist shot for a 2-0 advantage.

Tony Dugstad added another second-period goal, assisted by Tyler Hegwood, and it ended 3-0.

David Hillman played a strong game to lead the defensive effort while Adam Newman registered the shutout in goal. Albert Lea was outshot 23-21.

The next opponent was New Prague, a team that relies on size, strength and a very physical style of play. The locals countered the style well, scoring all of the goals in the first period while taking a 3-0 lead.

Breuer scored first, assisted by Kyle Hofmeister and Westland. Hegwood hit the back of the net moments later, with Casey Schumaker and Dugstad assisting on the play. The first period ended with an unassisted goal by Breuer.

New Prague cut it to 3-1 in the second period, ending Newman’s four-period shutout streak.

Newman went on to stop the rest of the 24 shots he faced as Albert Lea won 3-1. Garret Schultz also played a strong game for the VFW team.

The locals faced Faribault in the championship game, which was 1-1 after one period as Hegwood scored on assists from Schumaker and Brett Frydenlund.

Albert Lea took control from there with three unanswered goals in the second period.

Schumaker made it 2-1, scoring on assists by Hegwood and Armstrong. On his next shift Schumaker scored again, this time assisted by Dugstad and Mattson. A nice passing play ending with a Westland goal made it 4-1; Hofmeister and Mattson assisted.

Albert Lea closed out the game with two third-period goals. The first was Schumaker’s hat-trick goal, assisted by Hegwood and Adam Wacholz. Breuer scored the final goal on assists from Hofmeister and Westland.

The A Bantams are competing this weekend in the annual Hopkins Thanksgiving Tournament. The team is coached by Fred Nelson, Scott Ellertson and Vern Frydenlund.