The Albert Lea football team traveled to Tri-City United Friday night in hopes of finally capturing its first win of the season.

Although the Tigers were the first on the scoreboard, they were unable to hold on to their lead as they fell to the Titans, 17-14.

Senior Cole Wentzel put the Tigers on the board with the only score in the first half with an 85-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead into halftime.

The Titans tied the game at 7-7 midway through the third quarter; however, the Tigers answered right back with another score from Wentzel, this time on a three-yard rush.

Albert Lea took a 14-7 lead into the fourth quarter, but Tri-City United erased that lead early in the quarter and took the ball back with around five minutes remaining. After running the clock down to under one minute, Tri-City kicked what would turn out to be the game winning field goal.

Head coach Corey Black said the Titans’ ability to hold on to the ball and manipulate the clock late in the game was a big part of the loss. However, Black was happy with the overall play of the defense.

“The defense played really well tonight,” Black said. “The game basically came down to three plays and, unfortunately, none of them went in our favor … We need to make sure to keep our penalties low and execute on offense and we’ll be a tough team to beat.”

The Tigers fall to 0-6 on the season and will be back on the gridiron Friday, when they travel to Worthington to take on the 2-3 Trojans.