Just as soccer is becoming a vastly popular sport in Austin, the Austin Youth Soccer Association Under-17 team made history by winning the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association Classic 2 state title Wednesday.

It was the highest level any Austin Youth Soccer team, has ever won a state title in.

Austin (10-3-1 overall) overcame a 1-0 deficit to tie Coulee Region of La Crosse, Wis. in the title game at one and after two scoreless overtimes they won 4-3 in a shootout. Coulee Region had beaten Austin twice in the regular season.

“It was pretty awesome. The game was really intense. It’s still hard to believe we actually won,” Austin defenseman Jacob Bentely said. “That last game we were just so worried that one goal was going to get in and we wouldn’t be able to get it back.”

Austin won against all odds in the final. After having their starting keeper Ryan Rasell red carded in the first 10 minutes for illegally obstructing an attempt on the goal, midfielder Jacob Brehmer came in to fill the keeper spot. While he had a little experience at the net, he wasn’t exactly confident.

“It was really freaky, I was pretty much scared the whole time,” Jacob Brehmer said. “I was just trying not to screw up too much, because our team had worked so hard to get there.”

Austin fell behind 1-0 after Coulee scored 10 minutes after Brehmer came in. But Austin tied it up when Martin Manocchio found Henry Darling for a one-timer on a center pass.

The pressure was completely on Brehmer after Austin took a 4-3 lead in the shootout and Coulee Region had one shot to tie it up.

“I guessed wrong for three in a row, so I figured I’ve got to guess right this time,” Jacob Brehmer said. “He decided to shoot right down the middle, and I kind of got down and I’m not sure exactly what I saved it with. But it didn’t go in the goal.”

The win capped a state tournament that saw Austin fall behind 1-0 in every game. They beat St. Cloud 2-1 and Mankato 4-1 at state and beat Owatonna, Burnsville in the district playoffs, and knocked off South Saint Paul in the Regional final to get to state.

Along the way the team was motivated by from former Austin keeper Aaron Rasell and captains Will and Henry Darling, Jacob Brehmer and Tim Horn.

Austin U17 head coach Brent Brehmer said the win was huge for this squad that has played together for eight years. However, things didn’t start out so smooth as this group lost every game as a U9 team when they first started playing soccer.

“I use this team as an example to the younger teams,” Brent Brehmer said. “When they started off in U9, they lost every game of the year. We got killed every year. Nine years ago this team was terrible. I told them there’s some talent here and if they keep working at it year after year, someday they will be able to play with any team in the state and they just did that.”

The team got a little better each and every year and by the time they were U13s, they took second in the C3 state tournament and moved up to C2. Last year, they went to state in C2, but didn’t place.

Some of the players aren’t even sure how the turnaround took place.

“I don’t even know what happened to make us better. It was a miracle,” Austin defenseman Garth Strobel said. “We started off so bad.”

But as Austin locked up the state title, Brent Brehmer said one thing was clear – every player played a major role and it was a total team effort.

“Our whole team stepped up and had a phenomenal game,” he said. “Earlier in the season we had one or two kids step up, but at state we needed them all to step up and they all did.”

The U17’s team success can only help what has been a soccer boom in Austin in recent years. As soccer games have been shown more and more on television and the sport has become more popular across the country, it has blossomed in Austin. In all, the AYSA had a record-high number of 11 teams this past summer.

“I think it’s growing a lot nation-wide. They’re taking the popularity from overseas. I think it will keep getting bigger in Austin,” Austin defenseman Howie Underwood said. “I played football for a while but didn’t want to do football anymore, because soccer was definitely tougher and it gets me better conditioned. I thought soccer was a lot more intense.”

Austin forward Alex Klock hopes the winning that the U17 team has started can be passed on to younger generations.

“Austin soccer has never really seen this much success, so it’s really nice to establish Austin as a huge dominator in the state,” he said. “It’s really cool to see the young kids come out and play because we do a lot of camps with them.”

And while soccer is getting bigger, Brent Brehmer said they have no intent trying to sway players over from football or baseball. When AYSA sees kids who aren’t in any sports, its goal is ask them to give soccer a try and see if they like it.

“We’re not out to steal athletes at all,” Brent Brehmer said.

That’s how defenseman Tim Horn started the sport and he hasn’t looked back since.

“I think we all just kind of got signed up by our parents and stuck with it,” he said.

The good news for this bunch is they are not done playing with each other yet. The U17 team makes up the majority of the Austin High School varsity team. Last season the team went 11-7-2 overall before losing in the Section 1A semifinals to Northfield and most of that squad has returned.

“Winning this state title gives us confidence,” Jacob Brehmer said. “We can go out and beat anybody, and we really won’t be scared of anyone.”

And Brehmer probably won’t be scared to play keeper if he has to do it again.

SOCCER IS ALIVE IN AUSTIN

Soccer in Austin has become quite popular over the past few years. The Austin Youth Soccer Association set a record this past summer by having 11 teams registered with the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association.

There were eight boys’ teams (U10, U11, U12, U14, U15, U16, and U17) and three girls’ teams (U10, U13, U15) for a total of 150 athletes from ages eight to 17.

Austin had a record breaking three boys teams go undefeated (U12, U14, and U16) that will move up from the Classic 3 Division to the Classic 2 Division next season. In all, four Austin teams qualified for the state tournament as the U17’s advanced in the C2 division.

The U17 boys took second place in the regular season, won the District Tournament, and a Regional playoff game, before winning the state title.

The U12 boys finished undefeated but were knocked out of the state finals on a tiebreaker. After going 11-0-1, they won their Regional game and went 1-0-1 in pool play at state, but were beaten out on a third tiebreaker (goal differential). They finished 19-0-2 as they also won two tournaments during the year.

The U14 and U16 boy’s teams lost both of their games at state in tight contests.