Conner Keyeski hit the left post.

Taylor Zimmerman banged one off the cross bar.

It’s as close as the Albert Lea Tigers would get, but it wasn’t for lack of opportunities.

The Tigers outshot visiting Rochester John Marshall 25-10, but the Rockets netted the lone goal of the night as Albert Lea lost 1-0 in a Big Nine boys’ soccer game at Hammer Field Tuesday.

&uot;It’s a game we should have been able to win,&uot; said coach Elia Romano. &uot;I don’t know what the deal is, outplaying these teams and losing. On the up side, we have really played well in the second half, and we did again. Everyone played their hearts out. We really dominated play, especially down the stretch.&uot;

The near-misses by Keyeski and Zimmerman came later in the second half, but the Tigers had chances all night.

Romano said Jake Levisen played an outstanding game at stopper, as did Keyeski.

&uot;Everybody played a good game,&uot; said the coach. &uot;It was a good effort.&uot;

The loss dropped the Tigers’ record to 4-4 in the Big Nine and 4-5 overall.

The Albert Lea junior varsity lost 3-1. Cody Otterson scored for the Tigers, assisted by Brian Christianson. Josh Svendsen, Zach McGinnis and Isaac Weise scored in a 3-1 victory for the junior varsity; Andrew Kortz had an assist.

The Tigers host St. Peter in a 7 p.m. nonconference game Thursday at Hammer Field.

(Jim Lutgens can be reached at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)