The Albert Lea girls’ soccer locker room emptied quickly Tuesday, few wanted to dwell on what had just taken place.

Tigers head coach Rick Barnhill didn’t even have a chance to address his team following a stunning 1-0 loss to Mankato East in the Section 2A semifinals Tuesday at Hammer Field.

In a bizarre turn of events Albert Lea (12-3-1), the top seeded team in the section, was bounced from the section tournament for the first time in three years by the fifth-seeded Cougars (9-8-2).

It started with a much-delayed pushing call from a linesman and ended when Mankato East freshman Hannah Whitington stuck a well-placed shot on a free kick from 30 yards that snuck under the crossbar and into the upper corner of the Albert Lea goal with 3 minutes, 26 seconds to play in the game.

Barnhill couldn’t believe the call, which he described as a phantom call and didn’t know why the linesman made the call.

“First of all, it was a phantom call because there was nothing over there that would have demanded a free kick,” Barnhill said.

It was a call he said he’s never seen before.

“He made the call after about 30 seconds of play,” Barnhill said. “We didn’t see anything. I don’t even know what it was. You don’t even acknowledge it after that. The play was already gone and everything.”

For the Cougars the victory couldn’t be sweeter after falling to the Tigers the last two years in the section playoffs, including a 6-0 thumping in the 2007 section final. It marked the first time in at least six seasons Mankato East has beaten Albert Lea and the first time in six years the Cougars have scored a goal against the Tigers.

“They outplayed the Albert Lea team,” said Mankato East assistant coach Akram Mohamed Osman. “They’re a great team, but we outplayed them.”

The Cougars were the aggressors the majority of the evening and were the more physical team as they moved the Tigers off the ball. The strength of their play came from the midfield with seniors Sarah Brozik and Danielle Steele. Together the duo controlled the midfield and Barnhill tried to quell their effectiveness with limited success.

The Cougars stunned Albert Lea by playing lock-down defense and holding the Tigers to 12 shots in the game, few of which were dangerous chances.

Albert Lea’s defense played likewise and East had 12 shots in the game, but the Tigers looked like a team playing not to lose instead of a team hungry for a return trip to the section championship.

The win set up an all-Mankato section final where the fifth-seeded Cougars will meet the second-seeded Scarlets to decide the section champion Friday in Mankato.

The two-time defending section champion Tigers hadn’t played like a defending champion in the playoffs. Albert Lea survived in a 2-1 shootout victory over Mankato Loyola in the quarterfinals Saturday and failed to find the goal in the semifinals against East after averaging 3.4 goals a game during the regular season.

Barnhill feared complacency and a lack of desire from his team entering the season and it finally caught up to the team at the worst possible time.

“I guess the biggest thing is all year I just haven’t felt the spark was there,” Barnhill said. “I just thought there was a little bit of complacency, just the desire.”

It was just the fourth loss to a section opponent in six years for Albert Lea.

“Ultimately, I think we just became weighted down and tired with the challenge to stay on top,” Barnhill said.