Packers fall in the finals
Published 11:38 pm Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Austin's Riley Grinstead slides at the ball, knocking it away from Rochester Lourdes' Gabe Salerno during the second half Tuesday night in Rochester. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
ROCHESTER — Austin’s offense couldn’t find its groove as the Packers saw their season come to an end in a 5-0 loss to Rochester Lourdes in the Section 1A boys soccer title game at Rochester Community and Technical College Tuesday.
Austin's Nick Brehmer goes for a header along with Rochester Lourdes' Alan Schembri-Wismayer during the second half of the Section 1A title game Tuesday night in Rochester. Austin's season came to an end 5-0.
The No. 2 seeded Packers (16-4 overall) came out firing as Abinyan Lual had a shot go about a foot wide of the net and Jake Hagen-Erickson had a shot go a couple feet over the goal early on, but Austin mustered just two total shots on goal in the loss.
“I don’t think we completely established a passing rhythm,” Austin head coach Jens Levisen said. “We were making passes that weren’t the way they should be. We had lots of balls knocked to open space without someone making a run and they ate that up.”
The top-seeded and third-ranked Eagles (19-1 overall) took advantage of a couple of defensive breakdowns in the first half as Alan Shemri-Wismayer put a shot into the corner of the net to make it 1-0 in the 13th minute and Gabe Salemo scored on a look near the net to make it 2-0 in the 20th minute.
“They’re a good team and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Austin senior midfielder Nick Brehmer said. “If we would’ve beat these guys, we would’ve played a worse team at the state tournament. We were there, but we just had to go through them.”
Lourdes, which finished with 18 shots on goal, put the game away with three goals in a three-minute span late in the second half.
Austin's Carson Hackel battles with Rochester Lourdes' Jack Convery during the second half of the Section 1A championship Tuesday night Rochester.
Levisen was happy with how his team composed itself, despite the fact that the Packers were pushed around a little.“You look at some of the calls that were happening during the game and you can’t change or question that,” Levisen said. “They did a good job of just playing through it.”
The Packers, who will graduate 13 seniors from this team, had lofty expectations for this season and they nearly reached them.
“At the beginning of the season we wanted to win the Big Nine and go to state,” Brehmer said. “We took second in the Big Nine and second in the state. We were right there, we just couldn’t finish.”
Levisen wishes his seniors the best of luck in their futures.
“I really want to see where they end up next,” he said. “They’re good soccer players and they’re good kids too. One of their goals before the season was to be a team the community could be proud of.”
Austin's Roel Torres moves the ball against Rochester Lourdes' Esteban Bedoya during the second half of the Section 1A title game Tuesday night in Rochester.
SCORING
(R) Alan Schembri-Wismayer (Gabe Salemo) 13th minute
(R) Salemo (Jack Convery) 20th minute
(R) Schembri-Wismayer (Salemo) 66th minute
(R) Salemo (Convery) 67th minute
(R) Convery penalty kick 69th minute
