The art of surprise is a valuable one in sports and the Austin soccer team has taken that art and perfected it.

The Packers have had 14 different players score this season and they are equally dangerous from all points of attack on offense.

“Our coach (Jens Levisen) doesn’t want teams to know that we have one or two guys who can really score,” Austin forward Martin Manocchio said. “He wants us to have a mystery to our team.”

Besides their balance, the Packers’ biggest asset may be the fact that they have 14 seniors on the varsity squad. Those players have played together for the past nine years.

“We all know each other’s tendencies and we’ve built up team chemistry,” Austin midfielder Jacob Brehmer said. “It doesn’t matter who’s putting the ball in the net. One of the nice things about our team is on any given night, someone else can step up and score.”

That kind of chemistry is something that can’t be taught.

Austin defender Jacob Bentley recalled the season when this year’s seniors were playing on C-Squad as eighth graders.

“We played against a lot of varsity players who were playing down,” Bentley said. “We played against a bunch of big guys and got beat a lot of times, but we improved through that and when we were on JV we owned every one. We’ve been able to work through years of being the little guys and now we’re up there playing with the bigger teams.”

The Packers have earned the best seed in school history as they prepare for the Section 1A tournament which begins Tuesday. Second-seeded Austin (10-5 overall) will host No. 15 Stewartville (0-14 overall) at 7 p.m. in Art Hass Stadium.

“We’re confident but we don’t look past anybody,” Levisen said. “Whoever shows up to play, we’ll be ready to play them. We’re not going to look on until that one’s done. The idea of team play has been big. We’ve really worked on our passing and keeping our heads in the game.”

The Packers aren’t afraid to share the ball because they all have trust in their teammates. No shot is too good that it can’t be passed up for a better one in Austin’s offense.

“The emphasis is if one guy’s scored, the team has scored. They move the ball around well and they see if a teammate has a better shot, then they’re going to drop the ball to that teammate for a better shot,” Levisen said. “We have so many guys that are confident in taking shots. Some guys think I’m not going to shoot, because I’m not the guy who’s supposed to score. We’ve got at least 14 guys who aren’t afraid to take a shot because they know they can score.”

While the Packers are senior dominated, some underclassmen have gotten their fair share of scores in as well, which has led to a well balanced squad.

Levisen said he saw a connection in his team just last week in a home match against Albert Lea Thursday.

“I don’t know what sparked it besides homecoming events, but we had guys of all different age levels, different nationalities, and backgrounds all sitting on the sidelines singing the ‘Austin High Gives Hail to Thee’ song,” Levisen said. “You’ve got a lot of guys who are excited to be playing together.”

While beating Stewartville is the top priority, the Packers would love to get back to the Section 1A semifinals, where their season ended last season, and beyond.

“We’re looking forward to at least making it to the Sectional finals,” Manocchio said. “Hopefully we get to play Byron (the No. 3 seed in Section 1A) this year because that’s really been a team that’s avoided us and they always think they’re better than us. We just want to go out and prove them wrong this year.”

One thing the Packers hope to avoid this season is an emotional meltdown. In last season’s 3-1 loss to Northfield in the Section 1A semifinals, Austin was given seven yellow cards and one red card.

The team has avoided those types of situations this season.

“We’ve got a bunch of strong personalities on the team, but as long as we can keep it in check, we’ll be fine,” Brehmer said. “We’ve been fine so far this year.”

Manocchio said that Levisen has been a big factor in the team keeping their calm.

“I think Jens has done a good job of containing things,” he said. “You could say he’s improved over the last year on his methods of handling us. This is his third or fourth year with most of us and he’s gotten used to us.”

The Packers have also matured in other areas of the game as well.

“A year ago us coaches had to get them pumped up for a game and it shouldn’t have been that way. It should’ve been coming from the players and that’s the way it is now,” Levisen said. “They keep each other going.”

If Austin beats Stewartville, it will host a second round Section 1A match Thursday at 7 p.m.