The Austin U17 boys soccer team capped a successful first weekend at the state tournament by defeating Richfield, 4-2, on Sunday.

Tuesday, August 01, 2000

The Austin U17 boys soccer team capped a successful first weekend at the state tournament by defeating Richfield, 4-2, on Sunday. Austin went 1-1 on the weekend, losing to Rochester on Saturday afternoon, 3-1.

"Saturday’s game was disappointing in a way," coach Paul Krapf said. "We played probably our best game of the season. The breaks didn’t go our way. We had three times as many scoring opportunities as they did and just couldn’t put it in."

Austin took an early 1-0 lead, then narrowly missed gaining a two-goal advantage, hitting the goal post five minutes after scoring the first goal. Rochester tied the game on a penalty kick, which Krapf said was a "questionable call."

"That kind of deflated the guys," Krapf said.

Austin bounced back Saturday to even its record, defeating Richfield. Austin again had a majority of the scoring chances, going up 1-0 before halftime.

"We could’ve easily been up 2-0 or 3-0 (at halftime," Krapf said.

Austin, playing without its full roster of players, gave up two quick scores to Richfield to open the second half. It stayed that way until Austin exploded for three goals in the final 20 minutes of play.

The tournament concludes this weekend in Blaine. Austin plays Inver Grove Heights at 7 p.m. Friday, and can still qualify for the championship game if it wins. Should Austin advance, the championship game will be played Saturday at 1 p.m.

Austin qualified for state by defeating Bloomington 5-3 in the district playoffs on July 22.