The road to state: a season revisited

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 1, 2005

€ Game 1, Tuesday, Nov. 23 &045; The Tigers held off the Waseca Bluejays 4-3 in the season opener at City Arena. Coach Roy Nystrom said the season would be a tough one. &uot;We’re going to have to fight for our lives every time we take the ice.&uot;

€ Game 2, Tuesday, Nov. 30 &045;

The veteran players, along with the help of newcomer Quinn Ellingson, win Big Nine opener

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9-5 against Owatonna. &uot;We had a lot of nice plays and pretty goals,&uot; said coach Roy Nystrom. &uot;The kids can really put it together when they want to.&uot;

€ Game 3, Thurs., Dec. 2 &045; The Albert Lea Tigers blast the Mankato West Scarlets 11-2 in Big Nine play at the City Arena, improving their record to 2-0

in the and 3-0 overall. The team outshot Mankato West 52-13. Playing against a young team, Coach Nystrom was happy to see his team play with the intensity built from experience. &uot;We played to our level,&uot; he said.

€ Game 4, Sat., Dec. 4 &045; The Tiger icemen defeated Marshall 4-2 in a nonconference game, allowing the team to improve to 4-0 overall. The team outshot Marshall 40-8 in what Coach Nystrom described as a penalty-filled contest. &uot;Both teams had a tough time scoring,&uot; he said after the game.

€ Game 5, Tues., Dec. 7 &045; The Tigers lose their first game 7-1 at Rochester Century, trailing 5-0 after one period. Their first goal came in the second period; Century outshot the Tigers 34-32. &uot;We didn’t take care of business in our own end of the rink tonight, especially in the first period.&uot; said Coach Nystrom.

€ Game 6, Thurs., Dec. 9 &045; Rebounding from Tuesday’s first loss, the Tigers took it out on Winona, beating them 11-1 and outshooting the Winhawks 62-17 at City Arena, in the Big Nine Conference win. Coach Nystrom remained relatively quiet about the win, saying, &uot;It was definitely a lop-sided affair. Now we move on.&uot;

€ Game 7, Sat., Dec. 11 &045; The Tigers put the first goal on the board against the Windom Eagles, who were seeking an upset win, two minutes into the first period, which was countered by a goal from Windom just three minutes later. The Tigers won the nonconference game 6-3 at the City Arena. &uot;We did have some defensive lapses, but it was evident that we dominated them,&uot; said Coach Nystrom.

€ Game 8, Tues., Dec. 14 &045; The Tigers continue their domination on the ice with a 9-2 win over Faribault at City Arena, outshooting the Falcons 53-18, and improving their record in the conference to 7-1. &uot;Anytime you limit a team to 18 shots on goal, you’ve got to play a good defense,&uot; said Coach Nystrom.

€ Game 9, Thurs., Dec. 16 &045; Recovering from a slow start against the Mayo Spartans, the Tigers improved their conference record 8-1 with the 4-2 win at City Arena. &uot;We’re just got to take it one game at a time and see what happens,&uot; Coach Nystrom said.

€ Game 10, Sat., Dec. 18 &045; Though the shots on goal was more even, the Tigers kept the score lop-sided with an 8-2 nonconference win over New