By Jay Austinson
Hanna Austinson scored in overtime and the Albert Lea girls’ hockey team held on to beat Northfield at Roy Nystrom Arena Tuesday evening. The Tigers improve to 9-1 on the season and sit atop the standings in the Big 9.
The first period saw Tiger’s senior Mika Cichosz finding the back of the net twice.
The first goal was set up by a pass from sophomore Morgan Goskeson which Cichosz buried with a nice snap shot from the blue line. The second goal was all Cichosz as the senior defender rushed the puck into the Northfield zone and buried a slap shot over the goalies blocker from the top of the left circle.
Northfield’s Emma Peroutka scored for the Raiders, burying a one timer in the slot on a pass from sister Reese Peroutka. The Tigers outshot Northfield 18-6 in the period.
The second period was all Albert Lea as Northfield battled penalties throughout the period. The Tiger’s Austinson was finally able to score on the powerplay, diving for a pass from Cichosz that the freshman forward was able to redirect into the back of the net, putting the Tigers up 3-1. Once again the Tigers outshot the Raiders, this time by a 11-6 margin.
Northfield defender Mia Miller, a Minnesota State-Mankato commit, kept the game close in the third period for the Raiders as she twice beat Albert Lea goaltender Jayda Moyer blocker side, each time using screens her teammates set up for her in front of the Albert Lea net.
The overtime goal was facilitated by a key play from Tiger junior defender Keira Erickson.
While in the Northfield zone, Erickson batted down a clearing attempt by a Northfield player at the blue line and sent the puck back down low. Austinson then picked off a Northfield pass that she quickly passed to Goskeson, who fired a wrist shot low on Northfield goaltender Macy Mueller. Austinson picked up the rebound and beat the goalie low, just over the sliding Mueller’s leg pad for the game winner.
Albert Lea outshot Northfield 44-20 for the game, taking advantage of 10 power play opportunities while scoring on two of them. Tiger goaltender Jayda Moyer finished with 17 saves and earned her ninth victory on the season in 10 games.
Albert Lea travels to Northfield next Tuesday for a rematch with the Raiders. Game time is 7:15 p.m.
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