ROCHESTER &045; The scoreboard said the Albert Lea boys’ soccer team was six goals away from the Rochester John Marshall Rockets Tuesday night.

Tigers coach Jim Haun felt it was more like two or three players.

&uot;They had two or three very fast and skilled players who broke the ball out of our end, and our defenders were just not able to stop them,&uot; said Haun.

The result was a 7-1 loss at Rochester.

While Haun felt the Tigers improved from their previous game against Rochester Century, he said there remains room for improvement defensively.

&uot;Our defense is improving, but we’re still fairly inexperienced and other teams are taking advantage of that,&uot; said Haun.

Ethan Berg was in goal for the first half as JM built a 3-0 lead. Eric Hutchison was in the net the second half.

&uot;Both played well,&uot; said Haun. &uot;Even though they gave up those goals, they were very close in shots. They made some outstanding saves too.&uot;

Jake Clark scored for the Tigers on a header of a free kick by Nate Lombardi.

Jeremy Jacobson played well at center midfield, as did Taylor Zimmerman and Lombardi at midfield and Jake Levisen on defense.

The junior varsity won 2-1 behind goals by Brian Christianson and Dustin Trail. The C-squad lost 4-1.

The Tigers, 1-3, host three strong opponents for their own invitational Saturday in Southwest Minnesota Christian, Mankato West and Northfield. Games are at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at Hammer Field.