ROCHESTER – According to coach Todd Lange, not much was different for the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team.

Wednesday, September 05, 2001

ROCHESTER – According to coach Todd Lange, not much was different for the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team.

About the only thing changed was the scoreboard. This time it was in the Tigers’ favor.

After four close losses – three of them by one goal – the Tigers finally broke into the victory column Tuesday night with a 2-1 triumph at Rochester John Marshall.

&uot;It feels great,&uot; said Lange. &uot;The girls definitely deserved to win tonight. They’ve been playing tough all season, and we really didn’t play that much differently tonight. Everything clicked a little better, we had no bad things happen to us, and we won the game.&uot;

The Tigers scored the first goal of the game on a rather unusual play. A corner kick by Katie Dooley was caught by the goalie, but she stepped behind the goal line. Albert Lea led 1-0 14 minutes in.

The Rockets tied it a few minutes later.

The gamewinner came with six minutes left in the first half, when Kristy Swanson broke up the right side and found Amy Marka with what Lange called a beautiful crossing pass. Marka knocked it in for the goal.

Tiger goalie Liz Reynen faced 16 shots. Albert Lea had 11 shots on goal.

&uot;Liz had a strong game in goal,&uot; said Lange. &uot;And Steph Overgaard had a nice game on defense.&uot;

The junior varsity lost 3-0 while the ninth-grade won 4-1 on four goals by Stacie Armstrong.

The Tigers are off until Monday, when they host Austin.