The Austin girls soccer team has stayed busy over the past week and the team is starting to make some strides in the right direction.

Austin, which will play its fifth game in seven days, when it hosts Rochester John Marshall at 7 p.m. Tuesday, played a strong second half against Byron in a 3-1 loss on Tuesday.

The Packers (0-7 overall) trailed 3-0 at the break, but they controlled possession in the second half and they were able to get on the scoreboard when freshman Hope Dudycha hooked in a direct kick with 8:11 left in the game.

It can be tough to play in a lot of games in a short period of time, but Dudycha said the Packers have had a plan to keep the grind going.

“We’ve had to get good rest, work as a team and stay mentally strong,” she said. “We came out stronger in the second half tonight than we did in the first. We played as a team, we made our passes and we picked up intensity.”

Courtney Slowinski opened the scoring for Byron (6-1-1 overall) when she scored 11 minutes into the game and Aliyah DeCook put the Bears up 2-0 with 24:47 left in the first half.

Robin Weavers stopped all nine shots she saw in the second half for Austin and Cassidy Nangle stopped eight of the 11 shots she saw. Austin finished with nine shots on goal.

Austin head coach Jake Levisen said his team is continuing to make strides as it reaches the half-way point of the season.

“It’s the foundations that win matches and if we keep true to our foundations and what we’re trying to build as a program, we’re going to start winning some matches” Levisen said. “The second half tonight was phenomenal tonight. We attacked, we moved the ball and we challenged. We just need to do that for two halves.”

Austin lost to Stewartville 3-2 in Art Hass Stadium on Monday. Dudycha had a goal and an assist in that game and Morgan Raymond had one goal.