The roles are reversed this year in the Section 2A girls’ soccer tournament.

Last season, No. 3-seed Albert Lea traveled to Waseca and upset the previously undefeated No. 2-seed Bluejays, and the Tigers qualified for the section finals.

This year, the teams will play at Albert Lea, and the Tigers are the No. 1 seed. Waseca, the No. 9 seed, is coming off a 2-1 overtime upset Monday at No. 8-seed Mankato East.

“You get a few days to get ready, but once the game starts, players don’t care what seed they are. They’re just trying to win,” said Albert Lea coach Rick Barnhill. “We’ve thought of ourselves as underdogs all year and will continue regardless of the No. 1 tag.”

Waseca’s win at Mankato East ended a four-game skid to end the regular season. However, each game was close. Waseca lost three of those games by one goal, and the other game was a 4-2 loss at Fairmont.

Fairmont is the No. 3 seed in the section and is one of four common opponents between Albert Lea and Waseca during the regular season.

Albert Lea beat Fairmont 3-0 at its home tournament. Waseca tied Fairmont 2-2 in overtime at home on Sept. 11 and lost 4-2 in the rematch at Fairmont. Against Faribault, Albert Lea won 6-0; Waseca won 5-1. Albert Lea and Waseca both tied Austin 1-1 in overtime. The other common opponent was Mankato East. The Tigers beat the Cougars 3-2 in the second game of the regular season, and Waseca fell 4-2 at Mankato East before avenging the loss on Monday.

Albert Lea enters the tournament coming off a 4-0 win at Winona. The Tigers have gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 outings.

Barnhill said he opted against scouting Waseca and Mankato East in the first-round game.

“My belief stems from the martial arts, whereby they teach you to make your own line stronger, rather than spending time trying to cut into your opponents’ line,” he said. “Therefore, my time will be spent with my team trying to make them better.”

The Tigers are excited to start the postseason after receiving a first-round bye, Barnhill said.

“We’ve talked about just playing and getting to a point where we know we’ve done all we can do in our preparation,” he said. “Now, we just need to trust ourselves and remind ourselves that we deserve the success we’ve earned.”

The Tigers (9-3-2 overall) will play the Bluejays (7-7-3 overall) on Thursday at Jim Gustafson Field, but the time has not been announced.

 

Albert Lea boys to start section tournament at home against Cotter

With a trio of wins in Section 1A, the Albert Lea boys’ soccer team took the No. 6 seed in the postseason tournament.

The Tigers (4-10-1 overall, 3-4 Section 1A) will host No. 11-seed Winona Cotter (5-6-3 overall, 5-4-2 Section 1A) at 7 p.m. today in the first round.

“I was happy with getting a home game,” said Albert Lea coach Joe Squires. “Despite the record of the regular season, the competitiveness of the games came across during the (seeding) meeting. I was hoping for a No. 5 seed, but I’m happy with No. 6.”

In the first game of the season, Albert Lea lost 4-0 at Kasson-Mantorville — the No. 3 seed in the section — but the Tigers didn’t give up more than four goals in a game or lose by more than three goals for the rest of the regular season.

Albert Lea may enter the postseason on a five-game losing streak, but four of those losses were by one goal, and the other was by two goals against No. 2-seed Austin.

“I believe we should be considered as a sleeper in this tournament,” Squires said. “At our best we are able to beat just about anyone. It should be said that no team has the right to look past us.”

Albert Lea has won at least one section game each season since 2008.

“We are definitely looking to use that experience to help us play our best,” Squires said. “We know that every team is dangerous in the section tournament.”

Winona Cotter started the season 1-5-1, but the Ramblers’ season turned around at the Lake City Tournament. Winona Cotter went on to go 1-0-1 at the tournament and finish the regular season by posting a 4-1-2 record in its last seven games.

The Tigers and Ramblers have two common opponents: Winona and Byron.

Albert Lea lost 1-0 at home in the regular-season finale against the Winhawks, and Winona Cotter lost 5-0 against Winona on Sept. 9. A 4-1 win against Byron on Aug. 28 was Albert Lea’s first win of the season, and Winona Cotter tied the Bears 1-1 in overtime at the Lake City Tournament.