Reaching a section championship is an accomplishment in itself; reaching it four consecutive years is sign of a strong program. The Albert Lea girls’ soccer team reached its fourth-straight section final game with a 2-0 win over Mankato East Tuesday, but reaching the final this season may be the most impressive yet.

The Tigers were beset with injuries throughout the season and were dealt a blow when they lost two of the team’s leading scorers from last season after the first game of the season. Starting forward Abbey Arends has sat out the entire season with a knee injury and starting center midfielder Jenna Christensen was lost for the season just seven minutes into the first game when she tore her anterior cruicate ligament. Last season Arends and Christensen were responsible for a majority of the team’s scoring and their loss left the team looking for scorers and quickly. The team’s record this year is 14-4-2.

Before the season started head coach Rick Barnhill worried about the team’s ability to produce goals, but once the season got under way there was not much to worry about. This year Albert Lea has relied on forwards Chelsea LeBrun, Ariel Christensen, Taylor Friehl and cast of others for its scoring and has exceeded the scoring levels of a year ago.

“The scoring has exceeded my expectations,” Barnhill said. “Even with Jenna and Abbey playing I expected our average to be around three goals a game on the season. The fact that Chelsea, as an individual had 15, and Ariel had 12, I just didn’t expect that. I thought that we were going to be a very defensive-oriented team that would have to depend on few goals and play shutout defense.”

After a state tournament appearance last season the team found itself in a new position. No longer could the team be viewed as an up-and-coming team — it had arrived and with that a new set of expectations. The Tigers became the hunted after being the hunter, and they have responded well to that challenge. If all goes according to plan Thursday against Willmar in the section championship game, Albert Lea would set a school record with 15 wins.

“They just have a lot of resolve for achievement,” Barnhill said. “They’re oriented now toward achieving and receiving tangible evidence of the achievements, getting section titles and winning tournaments. They have a sense of pride within the group. They want to keep making history, making historical events.”

This year Albert Lea has had plenty of adversity of overcome outside of the injuries to Arends and Christensen. The defense lost Sophia Jepson midway through the season, which created more pressure for the rest of the defense.

The spate of injuries forced Barnhill into moving players in and out of different positions on the field. Among them was defender Morgan Stadheim, who moved to center midfield to fill the role of Christensen. Ari Wangen has also filled that role as well and on defense there has been a rotation of players coming into to play. While the loss of playmakers like Christensen and Arends hurt, the team has found ways to make up for their loss.

“It’s not just the direct effect of their goals and their assists, but it’s how they force another team to play against them and how they make other players around them better players with their presence,” Barnhill said. “It’s still hard for me to look out on the team and not see her (Christensen) doing the things she did last year. She’s very good at distributing the ball.”

Christensen and Arends have retained a prominent role with the team this season, despite not playing. Both have attended every game and often lead pep talks. Christensen addressed the team at halftime against Mankato East Tuesday, and the team scored two goals in the second half for the win.

“They’ve almost become student coaches,” Barnhill said. “They’ve told the team what they can expect to see and tried to lift them up and give them that competitive edge that they have as players. They’re trying to pass that on to the players that are on our team now.”

While some would view the loss of two leading scorers devastating for a team, the transition has been smooth because of the design of the system Barnhill has sought to instill in the players.

“Barnhill has always said ‘Everyone required,’” midfielder Alex Ciota said. “He’s always played a lot of players and let us know that everyone is important. Even before those injuries everyone had the feeling that they could fill spots.”

After seeing limited playing time last season LeBrun has emerged as a legitimate offensive force for the Tigers. LeBrun is one of those players that has not only filled a role, but has done exceedingly well, becoming the go-to scorer.

“We just had to adjust, there was no way around it,” LeBrun said. “I think we just had to stay strong and work our way around it.”

Ariel Christensen was a player who regularly came off the bench last season to provide the team with a spark, but as a sophomore she has increased her value to the team with her 12 goals and tireless effort.

Friehl has become what Christensen was last season by coming in off the bench, but she has become much more than that. Against Mankato East Tuesday Friehl scored the first goal of the game with a rocket shot into the upper corner of the net for her 10th goal of the season. She, too, has become a skilled offensive player that can score from range like she proved Tuesday night.

“Nothing is designed or created for just one player,” Barnhill said. “It’s more of a system, and we try to build the system around the other players. We just try to be able to put players into an advantageous system. I’m always telling them that everyone’s contribution matters. I think that they really believe that.”

A state tournament appearance gives a program instant recognition, but it can also lead a team to relax because of overconfidence. The Tigers still don’t feel as though they have arrived as a power and remain modest. That modesty and desire to constantly prove their self has continued to fuel them through this season.

“As a team we became really strong last year and that carried on this year,” LeBrun said. “We really like to prove ourselves. A lot of teams don’t think we’re very good so we like to go out there and show them.”

As it stands now it seems nothing short of a trip to the Metrodome for the state tournament would satisfy this team after it got a taste of the state tournament last season.