It wasn’t a win and it wasn’t as good as win for the Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team.

Saturday, December 04, 1999

It wasn’t a win and it wasn’t as good as win for the Albert Lea High School girls’ hockey team.

Not this year, anyway.

It was, however, very entertaining.

The Tigers, who continue to make great strides in their third season as a varsity team, lost 5-4 in overtime to New Ulm in a nonconference game at the City Arena Friday night.

&uot;That was an incredibly exciting game,&uot; said ALHS coach Mike Miller. &uot;It’s a tough game to lose, but it’s just a fun game to be a part of. We left it all out on the ice; the girls played their hearts out.&uot;

They also outscored the Eagles 2-0 in the first period despite being outshot 8-5 by the visitors.

Both Albert Lea goals came off the stick of freshman Jasey Porter, who scored at the 11:43 mark on assists by Frances O’Donnell and Tessa Christensen and at 14:26 on a Christensen assist.

The Eagles quickly tied it, scoring just 28 seconds into the second stanza and making it 2-2 at 2:11.

New Ulm took a 3-2 lead 2:52 into the third period and it remained that way until the 10:01 mark, when Lindsey Sorenson tied it with an unassisted goal.

The Eagles answered almost immediately, regaining the lead with a goal just 24 seconds later.

The Tigers, though, refused to fold. Christensen took a brilliant pass from Porter – who kicked the puck with her skate – and beat the goaltender with a backhanded shot at 12:38.

&uot;That was incredible,&uot; said Miller. &uot;It was a great play.&uot;

New Ulm scored 1:27 into the eight-minute, sudden-death overtime period on a shot that took an odd bounce in front of goalie Sara Schewe.

New Ulm outshot the Tigers 32-15. Albert Lea had four penalties, New Ulm two.

Miller said it was an especially strong effort considering the Tigers made the long trip to Winona on Thursday and lost 3-0 despite outshooting the Winhawks 29-10.

&uot;It took us two periods to get into the game, and by then we were down 2-0,&uot; said Miller. &uot;We outshot them 16-3 in the third period.&uot;

Miller said fatigue was a concern with the Tigers playing three games in four nights but that it wasn’t really a factor Friday.

&uot;The girls looked like a completely different team from Thursday,&uot; said the coach. &uot;I hated to lose it, but it was an incredible effort by us.&uot;

While the loss, the Tigers’ fourth in a row, dropped their record to 1-4 overall, Miller said he’s still very optimistic about the season.

&uot;I told the girls earlier this week that this season the wins are going to feel better and the losses will feel a lot tougher,&uot; said Miller. &uot;Just because any team can win on any night this year. We lost 4-0 to John Marshall, and we led Austin (Tuesday night). Austin beat JM (Thursday). It just comes down to the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win. The girls are starting to come together.&uot;

The Tigers host Faribault Thursday at 7:30 at the City Arena.