NORTHFIELD &045; Playing on the home field of the top-seeded Northfield Raiders, the Albert Lea Tigers were definite underdogs in the semifinal round of the Section 2A Boys’ Soccer Tournament.

But they didn’t play like it. And the final score didn’t show it.

The season came to an end with a 1-0 loss for the fourth-seeded Tigers Tuesday night.

&uot;Even though they outshot us pretty badly, I felt we played them pretty even,&uot; said first-year Tigers head coach Elia Romano.

Goalie Ethan Berg played especially well, according to Romano, making 15 saves to keep it close.

&uot;We really played our hearts out,&uot; said Romano. &uot;We gave it everything we had. We had some real great opportunities, especially at the end, but we just couldn’t put one in the back of the net.&uot;

Northfield, which outshot the Tigers 14-3, scored about midway through the first half.

&uot;We had a lot of opportunities that didn’t actually result in a shot on goal,&uot; said Romano. &uot;We were really pressing hard, especially at the end. Northfield is definitely a good team, but they were not out of our reach.&uot;

The Tigers, who finished 7-9-1, graduate 16 seniors in Berg, Brady Plantage, Ben Frayne, Jake Clark, Dustin Boyer, Jake Levisen, Brian Christianson, Taylor Zimmerman, Brett Plantage, Kurtis Bohrnstedt, Justin McGinnis, Tyler Wiese, Alejandro Lazaro, Shane Tukua, Joe Squires Jeremy Jacobson and Mitch Kortz.

(Contact Jim Lutgens at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)