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ROSEVILLE — Friday night’s quarterfinals round wasn’t too kind to the two Big Nine Conference boys soccer teams remaining in the Class A state tournament.

In the opening game of the bracket, Hermantown beat Mankato West by a 5-1 score at the Roseville Area High School Stadium.

The Austin Packers put forth a much closer battle in the late game of the state quarterfinals against the Simley Spartans. The second-seeded Spartans had more shots throughout the night, but the Packers defense kept it close.

In the end, the Spartans broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the final minute to get the tournament win. The winning goal came with 59 seconds left in regulation.

Senior forward Oja Ena of Simley dribbled through the defense and banged a shot past Austin goalie Ryan Rasell for the 2-1 win. The last-second victory gave the Spartans a trip to the state semifinals.

The Spartans took the early lead in this game with a goal midway through the first half by Ben Royce. The first goal of the night came on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute.

“They had most of the offense and controlled the play in the first half, then we controlled the flow in the second half,” Austin coach Jens Levisen said. “It was a matter of who had the wind. The weather was that much of a factor. The guys would kick the ball in the air and you could see a wall where the wind knocked it down.”

Only the stellar efforts of Rasell and the Packers defense kept the contest this close in the first half. The Spartans came out firing and had a few close-in shots during the opening 20 minutes of the game.

Rasell, as he has been all season, was up to the task in the Packers net. He turned away most of the attempts by the Spartans, and finished with three saves on the night.

“Making it to state is a big step for the program,” Levisen said. “We were right in there and the defense played great. We showed everybody that we belonged in the state tourney.”

The Packers offense struggled to find its rhythm in the first half as the biting wind made it tough to aim shots. The Austin boys got things rolling in the second half and created some pressure on the Simley net. The Packers finished with four shots-on-goal.

Throughout the season, whenever the Packers have needed a big play they’ve turned to senior midfielder Jacob Brehmer. Once again, Brehmer delivered when his team needed a lift.

Defense held sway for both teams during the initial 30-plus minutes of the second half. The Packers offense then got it in close and the Spartans defense couldn’t prevent a shot from Brehmer. The Spartans interfered with the Packers shooter inside the crease and he got a free look.

Brehmer scored late in the second half to get the Packers back to a tie game. Brehmer scored off a penalty kick with five-and-a-half minutes left in the second half.

It would then be a defensive struggle to the bitter end in the driving rain. The clock wound down and it looked like overtime might be the next step, but the Spartans instead scored the decisive goal.

“The guy hit a shot with a minute left, and they’re seeded No. 2 for a reason,” Levisen concluded. “Our guys gave me everything they had and it was tough to see the season come to an end. But the only way you go out with a win is to win them all at state.”

Austin finished the season with a 14-6 overall record. This was the first ever trip to the state tournament for the Packers.

Simley (18-1-4) next plays third-seeded Hermantown (20-1) in Monday’s Class A semifinals at 2 p.m. Top-seeded Totino-Grace (18-3) plays unseeded Mahtomedi (15-3-3) in the early game of the semifinals at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Austin loses on “a last-minute desperation shot”

From the Star Tribune.com’s GAME FaceMN:

Simley 2, Austin 1: Simley, in the first half, and Austin, in the second, traded dictation of the pace of play, momentum bursts and successful penalty kicks.

After that back-and-forth affair, it all came down to a last-minute desperation shot — literally.

Just when officials in the Roseville High School press box were discussing overtime procedures, Spartans forward Oja Ena had the ball drop in his direction from 18 yards out. In one motion, Ena turned to his left and booted the ball toward the Packers net. The shot went in with 58.8 seconds remaining, capping a wild regulation victory for the second-seeded Spartans (18-1-4).

Simley’s Ben Royce and Austin’s Jacob Brehmer connected on their respective penalty shot tries.

Austin finishes the season 14-6.

BRIAN STENSAAS

Packers boys reach section soccer title game

By Scott A. Kolb

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN

Three goals in the second half on Monday night carried the Austin Packers boys soccer team to its first ever appearance in a section championship game.

The Byron Bears, seeded third, were tied with the second-seeded Packers at halftime of this Class A, Section One semifinals game at Art Hass Stadium. The second half belonged to the Austin boys with a flurry of goals in the final minutes to secure a 4-1 win and a trip to the title round.

It was a perfect night for the Packers final home game of the season. The weather was mild and more importantly there were no other sports activities on the schedule, so the student section was packed. The boys on the field gave their fans in the stands plenty to cheer about with the biggest win in team history.

“Making it to the section finals is a big thing for our program; I’ve had e-mails all week from former players wishing us well,” Austin coach Jens Levisen said. “We controlled the ball and the offense came through in the second half. The defense was prepared for Byron, and they did a good job of limiting the shot opportunities.”

Offensive pressure

Spurred on by the boisterous crowd, the Packers came out firing right away in the first half. Jacob Brehmer of the Packers got open in front at just 10 minutes into the game, but his shot was blocked by Bears goalie Brock Anderson.

A short time later, Anderson had another save on a shot from the side by Francisco Torres. The pressure from the Packers never ceased as they put up 28 shots-on-goal for the night. Torres also had a penalty kick late in the first half that was knocked away, but the Packers had set the tone with their attacking offense.

Despite the Packers pressure, it was the Bears who scored the first goal. Ryan Baumbach took a crossing pass from Matt Thorpe and slipped it by Austin goalie Ryan Rasell. Byron had a 1-0 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.

Less than two minutes later, the Packers answered with the first of two goals on the night from Martin Manocchio. Jacob Larson directed the pass to Manocchio, who tied the game with 12:35 left in the first half.

From this point on, it was only a matter of when the offense would break it open as the Austin defense didn’t let the Byron offense anywhere near the net. Still, it stayed tied well into the second half.

Pack take control

Rasell faced a few shots in the first half, but only needed four saves for the win. Just to keep the crowd entertained, Rasell ranged out from the net a few times to knock the Byron players off the ball. His high return kicks made sure the action stayed on the other end of the field.

“They got an open shot in the first half, but after that the defenders kept the ball away from me,” Rasell said. “The defense was amazing and it gave me the chance to watch our offense work at the other end. This is an incredible feeling to be going to the section finals.”

Throughout the initial stages of the second half, the efforts of Rasell and his defense were needed to keep the game tied. The Packers kept applying the pressure, but no more goals came until the clock ticked inside 17 minutes to play. When the Packers need a big play, they turn to Brehmer.

Beating the Byron defense, Manocchio laid down a nice pass to Brehmer in front of the net. This time there would be no block from the Byron goalie and Brehmer punched it past him. The goal by Brehmer sent the fans into a frenzy and the Packers were on top to stay with 16:29 to play.

“Marty gave me a nice pass and I had missed on some earlier chances, so I wanted to get off a good shot,” Brehmer said. “I placed it in the corner of the net and it was good to get that go-ahead goal. Everybody went crazy and our crowd was great.

“Our friends were all here from school and we wanted to give them a good show. The crowd was like a 12th man and they helped us play our best soccer of the season.”

Final flurry

Down the stretch, the Packers poured it on with a couple of more goals. Pedro Herrera nearly added to the lead when his shot hit the crossbar inside the final 10 minutes. This merely heightened the excitement for a wild finish.

Alex Klock provided the insurance goal inside the last five minutes. Showing off his defensive skills, Klock stole an in-bounds pass and took the ball down the sidelines. He made a quick cut to the net and fired it home for a 3-1 lead. Manocchio then capped the second half barrage with a goal at the 1:03 mark for the final margin of victory.

“We missed our first penalty kick of the season in the first half, but I’m glad we had to work for our goals and there was no question about the way we finished this game off,” Levisen said. “We were in control and that goal by Alex just sealed it. The guys kept attacking and we didn’t want to drop back to give them any shots. The players are pumped and it’s exciting to be headed for the section finals.”

Austin (13-5) plays top-seeded Rochester Lourdes for the Section 1A championship on Friday at 5 p.m. at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium.

Packer soccer team headed to Section 1A final after beating Byron

By Rocky Hulne | Austin Daily Herald

Originally published 10:54 p.m., October 19, 2009

The opportunities piled up for the Austin soccer team and it made good on those chances with a 4-1 win over Byron in a Section 1A semifinal match at Art Hass Stadium Monday.

The Packers (13-5 overall) took the lead for good in the match’s 64th minute when Jacob Brehmer scored on a feed from fellow senior Martin Manocchio to give Austin a 2-1 lead.

“Marty gave me a nice pass right in the middle and it was to my left, which is my off foot,” said Brehmer. “But I figured I better one-time it, so it didn’t take too much time. I hit it, and luckily I placed it right in the corner.”

Austin put the game away when Alex Klock forced a turnover and scored in the 76th minute on a breakaway and Manocchio, who scored Austin’s first goal on a pass from Jacob Larson, scored on an assist from Brehmer to make it 4-1 in the 79th minute.

Austin, which will now play No. 1 Rochester Lourdes (14-4-2 overall) for the Section 1A title at Rochester Community and Technical College Friday at 5 p.m., trailed 1-0 after Byron’s Ryan Baumbach scored on a crossing pass in the 28th minute.

But the Packers never doubted themselves and Mannachio tied the match a minute and a half later.

“(Getting behind) didn’t hurt us at all,” Austin defender Howie Underwood said. “We’ve kind of been that team to come back after a goal and win. I think it helps us and makes us work harder.”

Underwood, a senior, was part of a defense that dominated possession, which caused the Packers to out-shoot No. 3 Byron (19-2 overall) 28-5.

“The defense was prepared and they knew what to expect with this Byron team,” Austin head coach Jens Levisen said. “Everybody was winning the ball in the air before they had a chance to do anything with it, but our defense doesn’t just clear it. They get it and they look to see who they can get it to.”

Austin missed a chance to take the lead with 4:31 left in the first half when Francisco Torres had a penalty kick stopped by Byron’s Brock Anderson. It was the first time the Packers have missed a penalty kick all season.

“I’m kind of glad that we got the goals the other way,” Levisen said. “So that way they can’t say, ‘you got a PK and that’s how you beat us.’ We’ve got four real goals.”

Anderson made a few big saves to keep the Bears in it. He stopped a point blank shot by Brehmer in the first half, and made back-to-back saves on Brehmer and Will Darling in the second half.

“Our offense has scored all year and we have a lot of talented players. We were bound to score goals if we kept playing good,” Brehmer said.

Keeper Ryan Rasell, who had four stops on the night, made two big back-to-back saves for Austin with 33:58 left in the match.

When Austin takes on Lourdes Friday with a trip to the state tournament on the line, it will be the first time the Packers have ever played in the Section 1A title game.

“We’re pumped up and it would be great to have a group of fans come with,” Levisen said. “It’s very exciting and we’ll have three days of solid practice to make sure we’re ready.”

Austin 5 Faribault 0 (9.21.09)

From the Austin Daily Herald:

The Packers weren’t messing around. The Austin boys soccer team got off to a fast start in a 5-0 win over Faribault in Art Hass Stadium Monday night.

Austin's Martin Manocchio (right) battles for posession with Faribault's Ben Heppner during the Packers' 5-0 win over the Falcons at Art Hass Stadium Monday. Manocchio scored two goals in the win.

Senior forward Martin Manocchio scored two breakaway goals in the first eight minutes and Austin (6-2 overall, 3-2 Big Nine) went on to score four times in the first half. Manocchio’s first goal came off of a strong boot from keeper Ryan Rasell, and the second came on a bomb from Jordan Broers. Austin’s Alex Klock said the Falcons (2-5 overall, 0-3 Big Nine) were practically daring the Packers to go deep. “Faribault pushes up towards the half line a lot. So we ended up with a lot more long through balls. ” he said. “If they want to play that off-side trap on us, we’ll eat them up every time. We’ve got people who can beat their defense one on one.” Pedro Herrera scored in the 18th minute on the first of Rolando Rubio’s three assists. Peter Lindahl scored in the 32nd minute for Austin and Herrera scored again in the 59th minute. Klock said the Packers, who have won five straight, still remembered when they settled for a tie at Faribault last season. “Faribault’s a rivalry game and we feel like we have a lot better team this year and we had a lot of momentum coming in. When we played Pine Island (Saturday) and got the lead, we slowed it down,” Klock said. “There was definitely no intention of doing that here, no matter what the score was. We’d of ran it to 30 if we could.” Austin head coach Jens Levisen was pleased with what his team showed, although he thought they may have tried to push it up-field a few too many times. “They knew they wanted to come and show something tonight and we played solid soccer tonight,” Levisen said. “I saw a few more through balls then I’d like to see, but that’s how they were setting up their defense and you have to react to it.” Austin will host its youth soccer night Thursday. All youth soccer players wearing a jersey will get in for free and there will be two youth games at halftime. Players will also receive a free poster of the Austin varsity soccer team.

Jacob’s 4X800 Relay Qualifies for the Hamline Elite Meet!

Tomorrow, Friday April 24, Jacob and his Austin Packer track team buddies will head to the Twin Cities for the Hamline Elite Meet, where high school track athletes in Minnesota become eligible to enter the meet based on performance.

The Austin 4×800 relay qualified last Saturday at the Austin Invitational with a time of 8:15:91. The relay will run at 5:45pm.

GO PACKERS!

Pam Larson

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.