The defending issues that have plagued the Albert Lea boys’ soccer team recently continued to surface Tuesday in a 3-1 loss to Mankato West in Mankato.

The Tigers (2-6, 0-4 Big Nine) failed to clear the ball from within their 18-yard box and gave the Scarlets ample opportunity to fire shots on the Albert Lea goal.

Mankato West (8-1, 4-0 Big Nine) outshot the Tigers 22-6 and Matthew Jacobs scored three times in the victory.

Jack Sturtz scored his first goal of the season in the second half to temporarily make the game 2-1, but Jacobs struck again when Albert Lea failed to clear a ball from inside its own 6-yard box.

“Bottom line was it was not our best effort of the year,” said Tigers head coach Elia Romano.

It was just the second game on the road for Albert Lea this season and Romano said it was similar to the first road contest for the Tigers, a 5-0 thumping by Winona.

“The biggest thing I take from this is we cannot wait for the game to come to us,” Romano said. “We need to anticipate what is coming next. The transition from thought to movement has to be a lot quicker for us to get results.”

Albert Lea faces Owatonna Thursday at Hammer Field.