It takes a lot of courage to step into a small net as opposing players fire off pucks at you from different angles repeatedly for 51 minutes, but that’s the role Austin goalie Noah Bawek always wanted to play when he started playing hockey a a youth.

Bawek, who has stepped up his game in net for the Packers this season, was drawn to his position as soon as he started playing the sport. He also played football and baseball, and he still plays golf, but Bawek has always been wired to be a goalie.

“I saw a kid bring out goalie pads and I thought they were the coolest things ever,” Bawek said. “Plus I’m kind of a knucklehead, I’ve always wanted to stop stuff and catch stuff. I’ve played catch with my dad ever since I was little and playing goalie intrigued me.”

Bawek, a junior, has one shutout this season for the Packers (2-0 overall) and he’s stopped 57 of the 59 shots he’s seen in net. He was originally brought up to the varsity squad as a freshman and he’s some struggles with the mental side of the game in the past. However, he feels much more comfortable this season. Bawek has learned to keep his focus on the puck this season and he always keeps his mind active during games.

“You just have to be ready and you have to be really pumped up before the game,” Bawek said. “You have to be pretty crazy to have pucks flying at your face. Sometimes I catch myself being afraid, and it’s like ’that’s not me.’”

Bawek played for the Southern Minnesota Elite this past fall and that helped him prepare for this season. The Elite have players from various Big Nine schools and they play most of their games in Blaine.

Austin head coach Jason Merritt has seen improvement in Bawek this season as a leader and a player.

“I think Noah’s made a huge leap this year in maturity with being able to focus more and staying in the game,” Merritt said. “He’s squaring up to the puck, controlling rebounds, and he’s doing the little things.”

As a team, the Packers are off to their first 2-0 start since the 2006-2007 season. Bawek has been a big part of the fast start and the Packers have also shown a drive to compete.

“I think they believe they belong at this level,” Merritt said. “These kids coming up through the youth program always competed at the highest level, which is the A level. They’ve known they’ve beaten some of these teams and they’ve been competitive.”

The Packers will host Northfield (2-1-1 overall) in Riverside Arena 7 p.m. Thursday. Bawek sees the game as a chance to show how much the squad has improved.

“We’ve just got to keep on fighting,” he said. “Right now our confidence level is pretty high.”