The Albert Lea U-12B girls&8217; hockey team, sponsored by the Elks, placed third at the New Ulm Invitational Tournament playing a tough four-game schedule the weekend of Jan. 27-28.

In the first game, Albert Lea faced Lakeville Black and came out on top by a score of 4-1.

Lakeville scored its only goal in the first period while recording 12 shots on goalie Sydney Conley for the entire game. Scoring for Albert Lea in the second period was Anna Anderson with two unassisted goals. Natasha Moyer would get one goal in the third period assisted by Mariah Leach, and Anderson would complete her hat trick assisted by Moyer.

In the second game, Albert Lea faced a big and aggressive team in Rosemount/Eastview. Albert Lea&8217;s defense led by Kelsey Thomas allowed only six shots on goalie Christina Schmidt en route to a 10-3 victory.

Anderson had a career game with six goals getting assists from Taylor Thompson and Megan Pulley. Also scoring for Albert Lea were Moyer, Pulley, and Leach with two goals.

Sarah Savelkoul had a strong game assisting on both of Leach&8217;s goals. Larissa Hacker had a good game in front of the opponent&8217;s net, missing her first goal of the season by inches.

Next, Albert Lea faced Sartell. Albert Lea controlled the game getting 44 shots on net but could only get one past the Sartell goalie who played an excellent game.

Sartell was able to score four times out of 18 shots on Conley. Scoring for Albert Lea was Leach assisted by Moyer and Alexis Gordon. Sydney Overgaard played a good game defensively clearing many of the rebounds from goalie Conley.

In the third place game, Albert Lea faced tournament host New Ulm and came out with an 8-0 victory.

Christina Schmidt was in goal making eight saves on her way to a shutout. Anderson and Moyer had hat tricks with assists going to Mackenzie Waldemar and Leach. Leach would add her own goal assisted by Savelkoul. Samantha Stanley would get her first goal of the season with a strong shot from the blue line getting an assist from Leach.