On a night were they couldn’t produce any offense, the Austin defense finally broke down in a 4-0 loss to Albert Lea in the first round of the Section 1A girls hockey Tournament in Riverside Arena Friday.

No. 5 seeded Austin (11-12-13 overall) held off the Tigers’ attack for most of the night until Lauren Klick slapped in a one-timer with three minutes left in the second period.

The Tigers almost scored two more times in the second period when Austin goalie Audrey DeVries stopped a breakaway by Madi Passingham, who also knocked a shot off the top pipe with eight seconds left in the second.

No. 4 seeded AL (12-14 overall) used those plays to build momentum as they scored two goals in the first five minutes of the third period. First Katie Nelson hit a 20-foot slapshot on a powerplay, then Passingham knocked in a 15-foot slapshot. In all, the Tigers had 42 shots on goal.

“We just allow too many teams too many shots. We’re a young team and we don’t understand the concept of backchecking,” Austin head coach Denny Bray said.

On offense, the Packers attempted 47 shots, but couldn’t get one past AL’s Kelli Hanson all night.

Austin had a 5-on-3 advantage for a full minute in the first period, but couldn’t score.

“We came out pretty strong,” Bray said. “We had a lot of shots on the five on three, but (Hanson) stood her ground and covered up everything. We didn’t have a lot of second chances. But we never gave up and we kept hammering at them. She was just hot in the net tonight. ”

Bray said playoff game jitters were a problem for his young squad which had just two seniors — Catherine Wagner and Kyli Ellingson.

“They were just a bundle of nerves out there. But we’ll take this as a learning experience for next year,” Bray said.

Albert Lea 0 1 3 — 4

Austin 0 0 0 — 0

First period

No scoring

Second period

(AL) Lauren Klick (Madi Passingham, Sophia Jepson) 14:08

Third period

(AL) Katie Nelson (Jepson) (powerplay) 1:15

(AL) Passingham (Klick, Lauren Draayer) 4:51

(AL) Passingham (Klick) 12:30

Shots: Austin — 47; Albert Lea — 42

Power plays: Austin — 0-for-3; Albert Lea — 1-for-2