Austin falls to Albert Lea in Big 9 girls’ hockey Saturday 4-1

The Austin Packers girls’ hockey team was at City Arena Saturday evening for a matchup with Big 9 and Section 1A  rival Albert Lea, and it was the Tigers’ Taylor Stanek and Lucy Stay each scoring two goals to lead Albert Lea to a 4-1 win.

Allie Davidson scored the lone goal of the game for Austin with only :18 left in the first period with an assist to Lexi Stich to tie the game at one, but a second period goal from Stanek at 14:33 proved to be the eventual game-winner.  Neither team was able to tally on the power play, and the doors to the penalty boxes were open often Saturday night as Austin was whistled for five penalites for 10 minutes, while Albert Lea racked up seven penalites for 14 minutes.  Shelby Davidson turned away 26 of the 30 shots she faced in net for Austin, while Maddie Schnieder made 26 saves in facing 27 shots to earn the win between the pipes for Albert Lea.

With the loss, Austin falls to 5-6-1 on the season, and the Packers return to action this evening in Owatonna against the Huskies, who are only a half game behind Northfield for the Big 9 Conference lead.  Face-off is at 7:00 p.m.