Marshall was a decided underdog in the opening round of the Section 1A Girls’ Hockey Tournament, and the Albert Lea Tigers made sure it looked that way.

The third-seeded Tigers rolled to a 7-0 shutout at the City Arena Tuesday night with what coach Mike Miller has been emphasizing &045; three full periods of solid hockey.

The Tigers improved their record to 19-7 while outshooting the visitors 32-6, ending Marshall’s season at 3-17-1. Albert Lea hosts LeSueur-Henderson/St. Peter in the quarterfinal round Saturday at 7 p.m. at the City Arena.

Miller said he was pleased with Tuesday’s effort and particularly the Tigers’ power-play unit, which converted on three of four opportunities.

&uot;We played three solid periods,&uot; said Miller. &uot;Any time you can hold a team under 10 shots, you’re doing something right.&uot;

&uot;I think we picked up our game, fought through it the whole way, and had three strong periods,&uot; said Tigers’ leading scorer Laura Hillman, who had a goal and two assists. &uot;Everyone played with heart tonight, and it showed.&uot;

Tessa Christensen got the Tigers started early, scoring unassisted just 36 seconds into the first period. Brittany Arendt’s unassisted score at 3:15 made it 2-0, and Hillman scored on an assist from Marisa Cottrell at 7:57.

Albert Lea added three more in the second period. Heather Bagley scored at 2:05, assisted by Sarah Jensen and Cottrell. Cottrell scored on an assist from Christensen at 7:03, and Amy Leach scored on a Hillman assist at 14:51.

The Tigers continued to pressure the Marshall goal in the third period but hit everything but net until the 12:35 mark, when Cottrell scored on Hillman’s assist.

Danika Porter registered her sixth shutout of the season.

&uot;I was real happy with our consistency tonight &045; something we’ve struggled with the last couple weeks,&uot; said junior captain Frances O’Donnell.

&uot;I think we played three solid periods,&uot; said Cottrell, an eighth-grader. &uot;We just went out and played our hearts out.&uot;

The winner of Saturday’s game plays in the semifinals Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. The championship game is Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 at Gustavus.