Lourdes tops Austin 2-0

Published 9:16 pm Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Austin's Francisco Torres fends off Rochester Lourdes' Brian Williamson during the first half of the Section 1A Championship Tuesday night in Rochester. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

ROCHESTER — The Packers had nothing to be ashamed of as their season came to an end in a 2-0 loss to Rochester Lourdes in the Section 1A title game at RCTC Stadium.

Austin's Daman Zimbelman steps up to kick the ball away from Rochester Lourdes' Jack Convery during the first half of the Section 1A championship Tuesday night in Rochester. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

They had their chances, but they couldn’t put one through as the Eagles (18-2 overall) picked up their 13th shutout win of the year to get to the Class ‘A’ state tournament.

Austin’s best chance to score came with 23 minutes left in the first half when Francisco Torres bent a 28-yard direct kick that deflected off the left post.

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“They’re a really good team and we knew it was going to be a hard game,” Torres said. “We played our hearts out today, but we didn’t get the result we wanted.”

Lourdes scored the game’s first goal in the 51st minute when Alan Schembri-Wismayer booted one just inside the right post on a shot that deflected off keeper Collin Weisert’s fingertips.

The Eagles went up 2-0 when Hadi Berbari found Gabe Salemo on a crossing pass with six minutes left in the contest.

“We came out to play and we had dangerous opportunities. It just didn’t fall quite the way we wanted to,” Austin head coach Jens Levisen said. “We kept attacking and we had opportunities deep. Even after they scored it wasn’t like the season was over we kept going and that speaks volumes as to who these guys are as players and individuals.”

Weisert made six saves in the loss for Austin and Lourdes keeper Will Elder made six saves.

Austin (12-4-3 overall) finishes the year with one of its best seasons. The team finished second in the Big Nine for the first time in school history and it reached the Section 1A title game for the second time in three years.

Austin's Jake Hagen-Erickson moves the ball ahead of the tackle by Rochester Lourdes' Alan Schembri-Wismayer during the first half of the Section 1A championship Tuesday night in Rochester. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“We accomplished something really big this year and we did pretty good, although we didn’t go to state,” Torres said. “We’re going to work even harder to prepare for next season and hopefully next season we’ll go to state.”

Torres, a junior will return next season, along with the team’s leading scorer Jake Hagen-Erickson, who is a also a junior.

Levisen hopes the Packers continue to make noise in the postseason.

“You look at how our program has grown and it’s all very positive,” Levisen said. “We want to show that were consistently a good program and it’s not just a one time thing. We want to develop a quality program and I think we’ve done that.”