Albert Lea opens its season by shutting out Worthington at home

The Albert Lea girls’ soccer team put on a clinic Tuesday night in its home opener against Worthington. The Tigers dominated on both ends of the field as they went on to crush the Trojans 11-0.

About 18 minutes into the first half, Albert Lea scored its first goal and never looked back. The first goal was scored by freshman Maddie Schneider. The Tigers would score twice more before the halftime break. The second goal was scored by senior Rachel Rehnelt and the third was kicked in by freshman Lucy Sherman.

Albert Lea took a comfortable 3-0 lead over Worthington into halftime. Although they were firmly in control, the Tigers weren’t finished just yet.

Around two minutes into the second half, freshman Jacy Rosas scored two consecutive goals within one minute of each other. If they didn’t have it already, the Tigers surely had all the momentum on their side.

Goals from senior Maddie Fjermestad and sophomores Sydney Collins and Ashley Butt stretched the Albert Lea lead to eight goals with just 11 minutes to go.

The Tigers continued their domination, scoring three more goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. The goals included one from sophomore Turena Schultz, as well as Fjermestad and Schneider each scoring their second goals of the night.

In total, eight Tigers scored for the team and five players recorded assists. Butt and Schneider recorded three assists each, Rehnelt and eighth-grader Esther Yoon recorded two assists, and Sherman recorded one assist.

The Tigers not only controlled the game on offense, but defensively as well with a good majority of the game being played on Worthington’s side of the field. Sophomore goalie Marissa Vogt recorded her first career shutout.

Albert Lea starts 1-0 on the season and will look to continue its winning ways when it takes on Northfield at home at 7 p.m. Thursday.