ST.

Friday, March 09, 2001

ST. PAUL – Minutes after suffering a heart-breaking quarterfinal loss Thursday in the 2001 Boys State Class AA High School Hockey Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center here, an obviously disappointed Austin coach Denny Laumeyer emerged to face the media. He had a message: "Our season is not over."

With that the Packer coach was quick to remind all that one of the Packers’ goals – to play on Saturday in the state tournament – still is alive.

The Packers will need to refocus quickly if they are to survive their consolation battle with Eastview at 10 a.m. today at Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. But at least Laumeyer and senior co-captain Dave Lorenzen are confident the Packers can rebound.

"We’ll come back pretty hard," Lorenzen said. "We’ve come back pretty hard after some tough losses before and we will do it again."

Eastview presents a different challenge for the Packers than Hastings did. Eastview, which lost to Elk River 3-1 Thursday, relies heavily on a strong defensive game, while Hastings relied on its talented forwards.

"They play extremely well defensively and are physical," Laumeyer said of Eastview.

Both player and coach, however, indicated the key today is how well the Packers play and if they are able to fix the problems that contributed to Thursday’s loss.

"We need to go out and do the things we normally do," Lorenzen said, explaining the forecheck and forwards covering for the defense will be key.

"We can’t hang our heads," Laumeyer added. "We have another game tomorrow."