Boys soccer: Packer defense leads the way to win over Mankato West
Published 11:23 pm Thursday, September 3, 2015
Austin’s Ochan Ochogi plays the ball in front of Mankato West’s Carrlin Meier during the first half Thursday night at Art Hass Stadium. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Austin boys soccer team opened its home field with a strong defensive effort as it topped Mankato West 2-1 in Art Hass Stadium Thursday.
Austin junior keeper Chris Kirchgatter stopped a pair of breakaway chances to hold the Scarlets at bay and he finished the night with 15 saves. West (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big Nine) couldn’t find a way past Kirchgatter and the back line of the Packer defense until they connected on a penalty kick to creep within 2-1 with 22:52 left in the game. The Packers allowed no more offense after that point.
Austin’s Sam Ewing contends for a header with Mankato West’s Jacob Makela during the first half Thursday night at Art Hass Stadium. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“Chris is doing just great. He’s making lots of big saves,” Austin head coach Jens Levisen said of Kirchgatter. “As a coach, you want a keeper who’s going to own his box and dictate things. He’s doing all of those things. He’s doing great, we just have to make sure we keep challenging him in practice so he continues to improve.”
Kirchgatter was able to stop West’s breakaway chances by moving to the ball quickly.
“You can’t get stuck in no man’s land. If you’re going to come out, you have to come out strong,” Kirchgatter said. “It means a lot to start the season off with two wins. We just want to keep it up.”
Austin (2-0 overall, 1-0 Big Nine) had just seven shots on goal, but they were high quality looks. The Packers took a 1-0 lead when Alex Evenson got free near the net and found the back of the net 11 minutes into the game and Austin went up 2-0 when Corbin Munger shook off a defender and fired a breakaway past West’s keeper with 23:32 left in the game.
The Packers were playing their first game at home this season and it was their first game on the new artificial turf. Austin senior Ryan Kempen said it was hard to picture a better home start than beating perennial Big Nine power Mankato West.
“It was the best way possible [to start]. It was really a fun game to play and it was really intense. Both sides battled really hard. It was crazy,” Kempen said. “When you’ve got Chris in the back of the net, you know he’s going to make the save, whether he’s punching it out or just grabbing it.”
The Packers were able to control possession through much of the game by moving as a unit and not trying to do too much individually.
” It was very much a team effort,” Levisen said. “Every player needed to be dependent on his teammate. We played as a team, defended as a team and attacked as a team.”