The 1999 season was a memorable and historic one for the Albert Lea High School boys’ soccer team, which won the Big Nine Conference championship for the first time.

Saturday, October 30, 1999

The 1999 season was a memorable and historic one for the Albert Lea High School boys’ soccer team, which won the Big Nine Conference championship for the first time.

The postseason is also proving to be pretty special.

A total of five Tigers received All-Big Nine Conference honors and two of them were recognized as being among the best in the state.

Luke Behrends, a senior sweeper, was selected to the first team all-state team while Paul Olsen, a senior forward, was honorable mention all-state.

Behrends and Olsen were joined on the all-conference team by seniors Bill Jones, Jens Levisen and Dan Ravenhorst.

The 1999 Tigers won the Big Nine title with a record of 10-1-3 while finishing 11-5-3 overall. They were rated No. 8 in the state in the final Class A coaches poll.

According to Tigers coach Jim Haun, defense was the strength of the Tigers and Behrends was the heart, brains and strength of it. He scored four goals.

&uot;Luke has good size and excellent speed,&uot; said Haun. &uot;He has courage and will take on and stop anyone. If not the best player in our conference, he was surely the best defender. He is a complete player and has the capability of playing at the Division I or II level. Three times this year I received comments after games that Luke was ‘the best player’ or ‘best sweeper’ people have seen.&uot;

Olsen, who also served as the placekicker for the ALHS football team, led the Tigers with 13 goals this season, giving him 21 for his career. He also had eight career assists.

&uot;Paul was our leading scorer even though he was often covered by two defenders,&uot; said Haun. &uot;He’s wonderfully consistent in his play, does not back off and gives everything he has for the entire game. Paul also has a good head for the game.&uot;

Ravenhorst, a center midfielder, had nine goals and four assists this year to give him career totals of 19 goals and 19 assists.

&uot;Dan is a complete player,&uot; said Haun. &uot;His presence on the field gives confidence to other players. He dominates the field physically, keeps himself in excellent condition, is tough and strong. Dan will not accept losing in one-on-one situations or in the game.&uot;

Jones, who shared goalkeeping duties as a junior, became the full-time starter in the net this fall and posted a goals against average of 1.08, with 136 saves and 21 goals allowed. He had six shutouts.

&uot;Billy has good, soft, sure hands and makes very few mistakes,&uot; said Haun. &uot;He has good range and jumping ability, has courage and is resilient. He is not affected by the bumps and bruises of goalkeeping and wants to play.&uot;

Levisen scored 10 goals from his center defender position this past season.

&uot;Jens was an important contributor to our defense – shutouts in six games and eight more games with only one goal against,&uot; said Haun. &uot;Jens has the ability to pick up opponents running across the field and picking off passes to them. He has a good shot and clears the ball accurately.&uot;