One by one, almost to a man, coach Elia Romano congratulated his players as they exited the locker room at Hammer Field.

There were plenty of accolades to go around.

The Albert Lea High School boys’ soccer team won its season opener &045; and Romano’s head coaching debut &045; 4-1 over Owatonna Thursday night.

&uot;All in all, everyone played hard,&uot; said Romano. &uot;All the subs that went in played well. I couldn’t ask anymore out of our first game.&uot;

Romano knew it would be a physical game and he was proud of the way his players handled it.

&uot;Owatonna always plays real physical, and we stood up to them well,&uot; said Romano. &uot;I’m happy we didn’t back down from the contact.&uot;

Jeremy Jacobson got the Tigers started in the first half, scoring on an assist from Nate Lombardi.

A goal by Jake Clark made it 2-0 at halftime.

The Huskies cut the lead in half early in the second stanza, but the Tigers quickly answered when Justin McGinnis drilled a penalty kick.

The Tigers’ final score came on a penalty kick by Brady Plantage.

Ethan Berg was in goal for Albert Lea.

&uot;We had excellent movement out of our forwards, and our defense communicated real well and covered each other,&uot; said Romano.

Jacobson, a senior, played an outstanding game while controlling the midfield, according to Romano, while Tyler Wiese had a great defensive game while playing more than one position.

&uot;It’s good to get that first win, definitely nice to get this one behind us,&uot; said Romano. &uot;Our season only gets harder from here. We’re going to have to play better and better from here on in. We played good enough for tonight. In other matches, we’ll definitely need to step it up a notch or two.&uot;

The Albert Lea junior varsity tied 1-1, with Cody Otterson scoring for the Tigers. Josh Svendsen had two goals, both on assists from Sam McGinnis, as the C-squad won 2-1.

The Tigers return to action Tuesday at Winona.