Austin junior Ojulu Cham has taken on a new role for the Packer boys soccer team and he’s starting to fit right in as his team opened the season with a 3-1 win over Byron in Art Hass Stadium Friday.

Cham, who played forward last season, has moved to the front of the Austin defense, which gives him a chance to provide a lift in all aspects of the game. Cham never once left the game as he served as first defender at the top of the Packer defense and he also was able to chip in a couple of scoring chances in the win.

“I’ve got to be aggressive, but I’ve got to look back too because the first thing is defense,” Cham said. “it’s a great opportunity for me to play the whole game.”

Austin head coach Jens Levisen said Cham’s switch to defense made it easier to fill out the lineup to make the Packers as competitive as they can be.

“We looked at what our needs were for our team this season and [Cham] wasn’t really sure who would be in that [defensive] role,” Levisen said. “He decided to be that guy to fill a need and help the team. I think he showed some leadership skills that the team is bigger than the individual.”

The Packers (1-0 overall) struck first in Friday’s win when Tucker Nelson connected on a free kick in the first minute, but the Bears tied the game at 1-1 when Will Pompeii hit a shot off the post two minutes into the second half. Austin took the lead for good when Matias Parada eluded a few Byron defenders to score a goal with 18:37 left in the game and it iced the game when Sam Bailey scored from 15 yards out.

Parada had faced a lot of attention from the Byron defense all night and he was glad to finally find the back of the net in a go-ahead opportunity.

“We came out here expecting to kill these guys, but they put up a good fight,” Parada said. “After the first half I was mentally foggy and my touches weren’t going where I wanted them to. That goal really loosened me up and gave me the confidence to finish the game.”

Austin had 20 shots on goal in the win and Chris Kirchgatter had nine saves in the win. Levisen was glad to open the season with a Section 1A win under the lights.

“Byron’s a solid opponent and to have them on a Friday night and that was kind of cool because usually football is a Friday night thing,” Levisen said. “We had a good crowd and it’s a new season with the first home game.”