Homecoming was the night before, and the members of the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team may have been a bit tired.

It showed in a 2-0 loss to Park of Cottage Grove in the final game of the regular season at Hammer Field Saturday.

&uot;We played a strong first half, but in the second half they kind of wore us down,&uot; said ALHS coach Paul Marka.

The teams played to a scoreless tie at halftime.

Park scored on a breakaway about 20 minutes into the second half and, about five minutes later, netted a header off a corner kick.

Both teams played well defensively, according to Marka, who praised the play of defenders Brianne Plantage, Leah Walters, Kendra Olchefske, Chelsea Schumaker and Anna Sigurdson.

&uot;We played real well defensively,&uot; said Marka. &uot;Annie Berger played outstanding in goal, with three or four real nice stops. The other saves were pretty easy because our defense did so good.&uot;

Park outshot Albert Lea 25-4.

The Albert Lea junior varsity lost 1-0.

The Tigers, who finished 4-7-2 in the Big Nine, fell to 4-10-2 overall.

Seeds for the section tournament were not available, though Marka expects the Tigers to host a first-round game Thursday at 7 p.m.

(Contact Jim Lutgens at sports@albertleatribune.com or 379-3437.)