BLAINE &045; Only a severe storm could keep the Albert Lea U-16 girls’ soccer team from winning a state championship on Saturday.

Nothing could do it Sunday.

Forced to start from scratch on Sunday after lightning suspended play with Albert Lea leading 3-0 in the second half Saturday, the locals made it even more lop-sided while rolling to a 5-0 victory over Maple Brook at the National Sports Center in Blaine. It gave the Albert Lea girls the Classic 3 state championship, their second state title in four years.

&uot;Everyone played real well,&uot; said coach Paul Marka. &uot;We had real good passing and ball control the whole game. It kind of frustrated the other team and they got a little physical because our players were just running around them. That was key.&uot;

Another key was defense &045; as it has been all year. Albert Lea allowed only one goal in four state tournament games while scoring 24. For the summer, the locals outscored opponents 123-13 while compiling a record of 19-2.

The Albert Lea girls wasted no time asserting themselves Sunday, scoring on their opening possession with Laura Hillman and Amy Marka passing the ball back and forth before Hillman scored on an assist from Marka.

Char Everhart made it 2-0 on an assist from Katie Dooley, who also scored before halftime as Katie Stenseth assisted.

Amy Marka and Stenseth had second-half goals on assists by Dooley and Lacey Pederson, respectively.

Maple Brook was a strong defensive team during the regular season, giving up only five goals in league play.

Coach Marka estimated the shots on goal at 18-2 in favor of Albert Lea.

&uot;I think the girls felt pretty confident going into the game,&uot; said Coach Marka. &uot;From the opening kickoff, when they went out and scored, I don’t think there was any looking back.&uot;

Stenseth and Amy Marka led the team in scoring at the state tournament with six goals apiece. Hillman scored four, Dooley two, Crystal Rentz two, Tara Wrolson one, Emily Staloch one, Pederson one and Everhart one.

Nicole Sorenson was in goal for all for games.

The rest of the squad included Emily Bergstrom, Tessa Christenson, Stacy Armstrong, Mandy Ardolf, Missy Reichl, Brianne Plantage, Jenny Holst, Brooke Wuerflein, Breanna Millhouse, Katie Kjos, Kelly Schreiber and Sarah Kurth.