A short field and wet playing conditions contributed to a 4-1 loss for the Albert Lea boys’ soccer team Tuesday against Faribault in Faribault.

The Tigers (5-8-0, 1-5-0) fell behind 1-0 four minutes into the game against the Falcons (5-4-1, 1-4-1), and answered back with an Oscar Hernandez goal at the 12 minute mark, but Faribault pulled away in the second half with three goals to hand Albert Lea the loss.

“There were a lot of mistakes because the field was so wet and so tight it was easy to get pressure quickly,” Tigers head coach Elia Romano said. “We couldn’t really play possession out of the back that we like to, and they were fast up front.”

The Falcons scored four minutes into the second half and scored two more in the later parts of the second half as Albert Lea was unable to clear the ball well out of its defensive third because of the sloppy conditions.

“They played a very direct style and we just didn’t get the ball adequately cleared quick enough,” Romano said.

The short field allowed Faribault to push its attack quickly and add numbers to the attack quickly which the Tigers had difficulty defending against.

The game was delayed an hour due to rain and Albert Lea started the game slow.

“The reality was Faribault was a little quicker reacting tonight,” Romano said. “As time went on we rushed things a little bit more.”