For members of the Albert Lea U-11 boys’ soccer team, last summer was an off year &045; literally.

Because of new age guidelines, the locals were unable to field a team for the group, and they lost valuable playing time while their opponents gained another season of experience.

The result has been a slow start this summer. But the Albert Lea boys are making rapid progress.

&uot;The boys have worked so hard this summer to narrow the gap between us and the more experienced Twin Cities teams,&uot; said coach Scott Pirsig.

The hard work paid off this week &045; not with a victory but a tie and a big improvement against an Apple Valley team.

The locals tied Austin 1-1 before dropping a 3-1 decision to an Apple Valley squad that earlier this season had a 6-1 halftime lead on Albert Lea.

At Austin on Monday, the home team took a 1-0 lead into halftime. After the break, Albert Lea began to control the flow of the game, creating numerous scoring chances while keeping the ball away from their own goal. The defense, anchored by Cameron Hove and Daniel Elmer, kept Austin scoreless in the second half by consistently sending the ball back up the field.

Darien Weigel and Steven Kruen controlled the ball in the middle, giving Albert Lea a chance to get back in the game. The pressure finally paid off with Logan Tufte knocking in a goal to knot the score 1-1.

Goalie Colter Marty played a strong game, turning away all shots in the second half to preserve the tie.

On Wednesday, Cody Wichman was in the net for the locals and did an outstanding job fending off numerous Apple Valley attacks from the outset. About midway through the first half, however, Apple Valley delivered the first score of the game.

The locals came out strong after halftime, but the visitors scored their second goal of the game shortly after the break.

Albert Lea answered soon after as Cal Pirsig took a pass from Luke Cheever and rifled a shot past the Apple Valley goaltender.

Despite intense defensive effort by Carlton Stripe, Sam Gackstetter and Thomas Furland, Apple Valley found the back of the net one more time to make the final tally 3-1.

Also on the team but unable to play this week is Brady Falk.

The U-11 boys are back in action twice next week, at Eagan Monday and against Lakeville at Lakeview Park Wednesday.