The Packer boys hockey team started as good as they could, but they couldn’t maintain the solid play as they let a two-goal lead slip away in a 4-2 loss to Winona in Riverside Arena Thursday.

The Winhawks (7-6-1 overall, 3-4 Big Nine) out-shot Austin 18-4 in a third period that saw them score three times and they held a 42-17 shot advantage for the night.

“We didn’t show up to play at all,” Austin head coach Erik LaRock said. “We didn’t want that game. They wanted it way more than us.”

Winona opened the third with two straight powerplays, and they finally found the net right as the second powerplay came to a close when Ryan Grant powered through a slapshot to tie things up at 2-2 with 11:13 left in the game.

The Winhawks took the lead for good two minutes later when Luke Hemker tracked down a loose puck and knocked it past Austin goalie Rainer Londino-Green, who finished with 38 saves in the loss.

Austin had a couple of chances to tie the game as Ethan Larson had a slap-shot deflected with four minutes left in the game and Trevor Stevens had a one-timer stopped with 2:34 left in the game.

Austin (4-7-1 overall, 1-4 Big Nine) stormed out of the gates in the first period as Marcus Stoulil drilled a slap shot from four feet inside the blue line to make it 1-0. Stevens slapped in a pass from Cole Nicol to make it 2-0 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first.

Austin’s offense hit a roadblock for the rest of the game.

“We got two quick goals and then we stopped playing,” LaRock said. “We didn’t move our feet, we got out of position and they got way too many shots off.”

SCORING SUMMARY

Winona 0 1 3 — 4

Austin 2 0 0 — 2

First period

(A) Marcus Stoulil 8:36

(A) Trevor Stevens (Cole Nicol) 10:37

Second period

(W) Lucas Schultz (Isaac Larson) 14:11

Third period

(W) Ryan Grant (Larson) 5:47

(W) Luke Hemker (7:55)

(W) Alex Johnson (shorthanded) (empty net) 16:53

Shots: Austin — 17; Winona — 42

Powerplays: Austin — 0-for-2; Winona — 0-for-3