WOODBURY &045; The Albert Lea Eagles U-10 girls’ soccer team competed in the recent Woodbury Summer Classic Tournament.

It was the first tournament test for the girls and no one knew what to expect going up against the top Woodbury and North Metro teams. Albert Lea answered by dominating play throughout the tournament. A referee gave the ultimate compliment when he said that it was a pleasure to referee the Albert Lea games and he felt they played some of the best soccer he had seen in the whole tournament.

High heat and humidity were already present when the girls faced the Woodbury Royals Saturday morning. Tournament jitters paralyzed Albert Lea’s defense at the start of the game and the Royals jumped to a 3-0 lead. The Albert Lea offense responded by peppering Woodbury’s goal all game and were frustrated by a good Woodbury goalie. Kelsey Koziolek, Kaitlin Cope, Sage Fitzgerald-Prihoda, and Jill Jensen played a hard offensive game. The defense shook off their early mistakes and shut down the Royals the rest of the game, allowing only a handful of shots on goal. Mariah Maras dominated the midfield and scored Albert Lea’s lone goal in the second half when one of her many shots entered the net. The Woodbury coach summed up the game as he congratulated Albert Lea and stated his team was very lucky to get the win.

The second game on Saturday saw Albert Lea take on the North Metro Icebergs. The local girls came to play. Most of the game was played on the Icebergs end of the field. Albert Lea’s first goal came when Maras kicked a shot at the goal that was deflected back out into path of Lauren Klick and Klick sent it in. Every Albert Lea offensive player had shots on goal and kept the Iceberg’s goalie busy all game. Late in the first half an Iceberg defender grabbed a Maras shot on goal. Maras was awarded a penalty kick and responded with a goal. Albert Lea continued their dominating play in the second half. Morgan Stadheim scored a goal off a pass from Abbey Arends to put Albert Lea up 3-0. The Icebergs scored two goals late in the game and Albert Lea coasted to a 3-2 victory. Fitzgerald-Prihoda and Madi Passingham shared goal duties for the first two games and made some great saves.

Sunday’s game pitted Albert Lea against the Woodbury Hot Shots. The only thing hot was the weather and Albert Lea’s goalie. Woodbury just couldn’t get anything started against an Albert Lea defense comprised of Sophie Miller, Stadheim, Elizabeth Winkels, and Tara Chirpich. Jenna Bowman and Maras dominated the midfield of play for Albert Lea. In the first period Arends scored a goal off a break away pass from Lauren Klick. Forwards Ellie Johnson, Jensen, and Koziolek played at their best to keep the ball on Woodbury’s end. Mariah Maras booted Albert Lea’s second goal shortly after the start of the second period. Abbey Arends got her second goal of the game and Lauren Klick got her second assist to put Albert Lea up 3-0. Passingham played goalie the entire game and registered the shutout to cap off a great tournament.

The U-10 Eagles’ season record improved to 6-3-2. The team returns to league play tonight.