Paul Olsen, Josh Kaspar and Billy Jones led the Tiger boys to a soccer victory over Rochester John Marshall Saturday.

Monday, September 20, 1999

Paul Olsen, Josh Kaspar and Billy Jones led the Tiger boys to a soccer victory over Rochester John Marshall Saturday.

The 3-2 win in overtime leaves the Tigers undefeated in the Big Nine at 5-0, and 5-3 overall.

&uot;We carried it to them until about the last 10 minutes, then we were really struggling. We won; sometimes you get lucky, but you have to put yourself in a position to get lucky, too,&uot; said coach Jim Haun.

The Tigers did just that for most of the game.

While the first half was fairly even in shooting, at 12 by Rochester and nine Albert Lea, the Tigers were the first to score, with 19 seconds left.

That goal was by Olsen, assisted by Matt Humphrey, who was 25 yards out and shot, after which the goalie blocked the shot but Olsen successfully put it back in the net. At half time, the Tigers remained ahead 1-0.

In the second, 22 minutes in, Olsen scored again, assisted by Josh Kaspar. Kaspar got inside penalty area, the goalie came out, and then Kaspar passed to Olsen who put it in.

&uot;It was a very unselfish pass,&uot; the coach said.

Although the Tigers were 2-1 with just 10 minutes left, things went downhill from there.

&uot;We kind of went to sleep. We were strong until then,&uot; he said.

JM scored with 6:45 left on a ball put into the penalty area, moved about, and put in by a free player.

Tied 2-2, the game went into overtime, where JM accidentally scored against themselves when the ball was deflected into the net, winning the game for the Tigers.

&uot;That was the result of Josh Kaspar putting a lot of pressure on their defender,&uot; the coach said.

Overall, JM outshot Albert Lea 23-15.

Still, most of the game went well for the Tigers, resulting in a win.

&uot;Paul’s had four goals this past week, he’s playing very well. Both Josh and Paul played good games up front, and Billy Jones made some good saves, kept us in the game, and put us in a position were we could win it,&uot; Haun said.

Next up, the Tigers compete in Winona Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the JV boys’ soccer team lost 3-0 to JM Saturday.