Not only did Albert Lea High School boys’ soccer coach Jim Haun feel bad about the outcome, he was disappointed in the way it happened.

After a week layoff, the Tigers had what Haun called an off day and lost 4-0 to Southwest Minnesota Christian in the opening round of the Section 1A tournament at Hammer Field Saturday.

&uot;We did not play well,&uot; said Haun. &uot;We were unable to get our passing game going and could not establish control. They cut off the passing lanes and seemed to be two steps ahead of us most of the time. It was a tough way to end a good season. We would feel better if we had played up to our ability. During the regular season you can stumble and recover.

That’s not possible in the playoffs.&uot;

The first half was even until the 34th minute, when the visitors got the ball into the penalty area and shoot it past goalkeeper Eric Hutchison from 7 yards out. Shots in the first half were 6-6. The half ended 1-0.

The Tigers came out strong in the second half and were pressing forward when their momentum was stopped by a Southwest counterattack ending in a penalty kick in the eighth minute. After Ethan Berg relieved Hutchison in goal, a third score on a free kick in the 29th minute sealed the game for Southwest. The fourth goal came in the 37th minute on a scramble in front of the Tiger goal. Shots in the second half were 10-4 in favor of Southwest.

&uot;Hutchison and Berg played well, keeping us in the game with some excellent saves,&uot; said Haun.

Albert Lea finished the season with a record of 8-7-1, an improvement over the 6-12-0 mark last year. The Tigers finished 6-6-1, with a fifth-place finish in the Big Nine, also an improvement over last year’s record of 5-9-0 and seventh place.