Owatonna took an early 2-0 lead and added a pair of late goals against an urgent Austin squad in a 4-2 Big Nine Conference boys' soccer match Thursday night in Owatonna.

Austin senior Ivan Esquivel scored the Packers' first goal of the season, tallying the score on a 15-yard shot into the near post. Dennis Christenson added the final goal to slim Owatonna's lead back to two goals before the final horn.

Both Packer goals came in the second half.

"Towards the end of the game we had to start pushing up to take some chances, and they got a couple late goals on us," said Austin first-year coach Sam Kolas. "It was a pretty well-played game. I was happy with the performance, we definitely did some things to build on and I'm looking forward to a good season."

Austin graduated 12 seniors from last year's team, relying on a limited corps of experienced players for this season. Esquivel, the leading returning goal-scorer, gave the Pack their first point of the season approximately 10 minutes into the second half. Christenson made it 4-2 inside the final two minutes.

"They were both pretty nice goals," Kolas said.

The Packers stay on the road for a game at Caledonia tonight at 7 p.m.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at :mailto:sports@austindailyherald.com.