The Austin girls hockey team suffered a setback it couldn’t afford as it lost to Albert Lea 10-2 in Riverside Arena Thursday.

The Tigers (4-3 overall, 1-3 Big Nine) had already taken a 3-0 lead when Austin goalie Kyia Radford Garcia, an eighth grader, went down with an injury. Without an active back-up goalie, Austin head coach had to turn to Anna Bailey, a seventh grade wing player, to fill in the net.

“You never count on losing your goalie and we’re in a situation where we only have one right now. Even in youth hockey up right now, there’s probably only three goaltenders,” Holtz said. “Not a lot of kids want to do it right now. It’s a tough position and it takes a lot of work.”

The Packers (2-4 overall, 2-4 Big Nine) had won two straight games before Thursday, but they mustered just 12 shots against AL. Jordyn McCormack scored both of the goals for Austin and she now has five goals in her last two games.

“I felt like we just came out flat anyway, even with our goalie in the first period,” Holtz said. “We stood around and kind of just watched them skate the puck. I thought they were a much better team in the first. To be honest, I thought we played better after we lost our goal tender. We probably allowed less shots after the injury, than before.”

SCORING SUMMARY

AL 2  4  4  —  10

Austin 0  1  1  —  2

First period

(AL) Esther Yoon (Mia Fjelsta) 13:11

(AL) Fjelsta (Ally Rasmussen) 15:43

Second period

(AL) Yoon (Fjelsta, Katelyn Steven) 3:00

(AL) Allison Dulitz 7:40

(AL) Dulitz (Sydney Collins) 10:15

(A) Jordyn McCormack (Kate Holtz) 11:21

(AL) Fjelsta (Steven) 14:33

Third period

(A) McCormack (Holtz, Peyton Squier) 3:45

(AL) Steven (Rasmussen) 6:24

(AL) Fjelsta 8:34

(AL) Malayna Thompson (Dulitz) 10:07

(AL) Steven (Yoon) 13:12

Shots: Austin — 37; AL — 12