The Albert Lea boys’ soccer team was able to overcome the cold and rainy conditions to beat Byron Monday night. Despite what seemed like a sluggish first 10 minutes, the Tigers rallied to a 2-0 victory over the Bears.

It looked like the rain was going to slow down the Albert Lea players in the first few moments of the match. However, around 13 minutes into play, senior Spencer Indrelie turned that feeling around. He attempted a deep shot that would wind up just slipping past the goalkeepers glove, and from then out the Tigers took control of the matchup.

Albert Lea controlled the ball for much of the remainder of the half. The Bears didn’t see much of the ball and when they did, they couldn’t get it into a decent position to score.

The Tigers did have a couple more opportunities to score in the half. With under one minute to go, there were two shots attempted on goal that narrowly missed their target.

Albert Lea took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the half it was a lot more of the same for the Tigers. They completely controlled nearly every aspect of the game; the passing and defensive work by the Tigers was especially superb.

Around 15 minutes into the second half, freshman Dante Lopez was able to find the back of the net. The score gave the Tigers a two-goal advantage and a comfortable lead.

Senior goal-keeper Levi Kermes recorded his fourth shutout of the season and provided some great saves down the stretch in the second half.

Overall it was a fairly dominant performance by the Tigers; they seem to be close to firing on all cylinders as the halfway point of the season passes.

Monday night’s victory may have been a little extra sweet for head coach Zachary Luther. He came out on top of a friendly sibling rivalry as his younger brother, Nic Luther, is a captain on the Byron team.

The Tigers bring their record up to 4-4 on the year and will look to continue their winning streak  tonight when they take on the Red Wing Wingers at home.