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The Austin boys soccer team didn’t let a couple of early bad bounces affect its confidence as the No. 3 seeded Packers eventually found their steam in a 3-0 win over No. 6 Kasson-Mantorville in a Section 1AA Quarterfinal in Art Hass Stadium Tuesday.

After having two shots deflect off the post in the first two minutes, the Packers took the lead for good when junior Monserrate Llompart Amengual, a foreign exchange student from Spain, connected on a 35-yard blast from the outside with 9:55 left in the first half.

“I’m not going to play here next year, so we had to lock in and play hard. I love these guys and they’re all part of my family now,” Llompart Amengual said. “There is no difference (playing in Spain compared to in the United States). Soccer is soccer, no matter where it’s played.”

The KoMets (6-7-2 overall) were able to create a couple of early opportunities, but Austin head coach Jens Levisen liked how his team responded in a must-win situation.

“Kasson came out with a high pressure, they kept us on our toes and they forced us to create opportunities,” Levisen said. “We had those shots hit the post, but our guys just kept after it.”

Austin (6-7-5 overall) extended its lead to 2-0 on a penalty kick by Leo Hernandez early in the first half and Law Htoo iced the game when he scored on a breakaway goal with 10:10 left.

Austin keeper Kyler Flanders had nine saves in net and the Packers fired off 11 shots.

For the Austin seniors, it was their last ever game played at Art Hass Stadium. Senior Juju Thawng said the team made its best effort to make sure it wasn’t their last game of the season.

“We had to lock in, otherwise it would be the last game for us seniors. We had to play our hearts out,” Thawng said. “I’ve been playing here since eighth grade and things have gone up and down over the years. There was a lot of emotion tonight.”

Austin will now play at No. 2 Northfield in a Section 1AA semifinal in Northfield at 7 p.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will play in the Section 1AA title game in Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton at 6 p.m. on Oct. 15.

The Raiders (6-5-5 overall) beat Austin 3-2 on Sept. 24 after the Packers had led 2-0 early.

“We played solid against them, but they ended up coming back,” Levisen said. “We’ve got an idea of how they play. That game was ours for the taking initially and we didn’t finish it. They’re going to have confidence going into it, but we’ve got to be hungry.”