FARIBAULT &8212; The 13th-ranked Albert Lea girls&8217; hockey team suffered a 7-6 loss to Faribault Thursday.

The Tigers&8217; defense had trouble slowing down the Falcons&8217; attack in the second period giving up four goals.

&8220;We were out of position allowing them to stake around us and we didn&8217;t step up to force them out of what they wanted to do,&8221; Albert Lea head coach Brian Blatti said.

The Tigers would rebound to tie the game at 6-6 in the third period on the strength of goals from Lauren Klick and Jenna Christensen. However, Faribault netted the final goal halfway through the third and held on for the win.

Blatti said his team will work on its play in the defensive end over the next few days, but didn&8217;t want to dwell on the loss with another matchup against the Falcons a distinct possibility during the section tournament.

Albert Lea got two goals in each of the first two periods with Abby Leach and Christensen scoring in the first period and Lauren Klick and Madi Passingham netting goals in the second. Passingham had a three-point night.

The Tigers are now 9-6 in Big Nine Conference action.