LONG LAKE &045; The Albert Lea U-12B girls’ hockey team, sponsored by The Elks, placed first in the Orono Invitational Tournament.

The girls played well as a team with balanced scoring, strong back checking by the forwards, aggressive defensive zone coverage by the defense and solid goal tending.

Albert Lea faced Hibbing from the Iron Range district and came out on top with a 4-1 score in its first game.

Scoring in the first period for Albert Lea was Adison Wangen assisted by Lauren Draayer. Draayer would add two goals of her own getting assists from Wangen and Sophia Jepson.

Albert Lea’s final goal came in the second period with Jepson scoring on an assist from Mackenzie Waldemar.

Sydney Conley was in goal making 18 saves out of 19 shots.

The second game Albert Lea faced off against Centennial from district 10.

Conley was again strong in goal recording a shutout while Albert Lea netted five goals.

Scoring for Albert Lea in the first period were Jepson from Wangen, and a power play goal from Wangen assisted by Draayer.

In the second period, assisted by her defensive partner Natasha Moyer, Jepson scored on a slapshot the Centennial goalie never saw go over her right shoulder.

In the third period, Megan Pulley scored on a long shot that caught the goalie’s leg pad and slid in, Anna Anderson was there for the assist.

The final goal came from Draayer who made a nice move to deke the goalie on the assist from Wangen.

In the championship game Albert Lea faced powerful South St. Paul from district 8.

South St. Paul would score once in the first period but then would be shut down by Conley who made 21 saves.

Scoring in the first period for Albert Lea were Draayer assisted by Jepson and Wangen. Anderson scored the second goal on a rebound from the shot of Pulley.

The only goal of the second period came from Jepson which was unassisted on a nice move to get the South Saint Paul goalie out of position.

In the third period, Wangen scored with a strong shot to the corner of the net, assisted by Draayer and Jepson.

The championship weekend would not have been a success without the strong defensive play of Erin Shahan, Nicole Wilson, Samantha Stanley, Kaley Waldemar, and the strong forecheck of Mariah Leach.

The team finished the regular season with a 5- 2 victory over Mankato, giving them second place in district 4 with a 12-2 record, and an overall mark of 27-4-1 tie.

The team will have the No. 2 seed at the district tournament held in Luverne the weekend of Feb. 17.