14-and-under girls face strong foes

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 23, 2004

The Albert Lea 14-and-under girls’ hockey team was home recently to see some great competition from state-ranked Prior Lake.

The visitors came on strong with two goals before the local team got on the scoreboard with a goal from Sabra Kogel in the first period. Prior Lake responded with a third goal early in the second period. Jenna Christensen, assisted by Katie Nelson, put the second Albert Lea goal in the net, followed by another goal by Kogel with the assist going to Laura Bledsoe.

Prior Lake regained the lead but it was short lived , with Christensen netting her second goal of the game with Nelson assisting.

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Continuing to play strong offensively were Kelsey Forman, Jade Gardner, Amy Gackstetter, Missy Arnold, and Brittney Beener. Kelli Hanson was in the net.

The locals traveled to Rosemount to see another top-10 team.

This would be a game of the goalies with each team only scoring one goal. Kogel scored the lone goal in the second period with Abby Leach getting the assist. Rosemount tied it in the third period. Molly Yokiel was in the net for Albert Lea. Also playing strong defensively were Morgan Walton, Ashton Larson and Faren Culp.

The final game of district play had Austin coming to Albert Lea, with the local girls winning 3-0. Christensen scored in the first period with the assists going to Leach and Nelson. Nelson got a goal in the second period, and Jade Gardner, with an assist by Leach, scored in the third period.

The Albert Lea girls would like to thank the friends and family who supported them during this inaugural season.

The locals finished with a league record of 8-3-5, good for third place in District 8 which is comprised of teams from the Twin Cities area, and first place in District 4 which included Austin and Mankato.

Next for the girls is a tournament at Black River Falls and then on to Regions at Austin.