ROCHESTER – Jason Fornwald would have preferred a few less goals and a few more penalties, but he was fine with the outcome.

The Albert Lea Blades, with Fornwald in the nets, survived a rough-and-tumble game against Rochester Landon Trophy, winning 13-6 Saturday night at the Rochester Rec Center. Albert Lea improved to 6-2 in the Southern Minnesota Hockey League and 10-2 overall while Rochester’s record fell to 2-4.

“It was a pretty chippy game,” said Fornwald, who’s also the Blades’ general manager. “Some poor officiating kind of led to some rough play, unfortunately. I guess we were just happy to get out of there with a win.”

But they didn’t get out completely unscathed.

“Chad Hacker made a trip to the dentist,” said Fornwald. “He took a high stick to the face at the end of the second period. We have a new nickname for him. He’s ‘Chip.'”

Kris Ellsworth played what Fornwald called his best game of the season, scoring four of the Blades’ goals. Justin Bolinger, Tim Colstrup, Mike Nelson and Hacker had two goals apiece. Levi Hendrickson also scored.

Fornwald estimated the shots on goal at 40-30 in favor of Albert Lea.

Jason Ferrington, Mike Carlson, Scott Heilman and Mike Miller all played solidly on defense, according to Fornwald.

“We had two full lines, and Rochester had about 14 guys,” said Fornwald.

“They made us work hard, but we were putting the puck in the net relative ease.”

The Blades travel to arch-rival Austin Saturday for a 5:45 p.m. game at Packer Arena.