From sports to life, winning isn’t easy. It’s just really, really hard and if I must be frank you’re going to lose more often than you are going to win.

The Austin boys soccer team had the best season in its history earlier this week when it finished third in the state, tying with Orono 0-0 in the third place game.

It’s the highest finish for a program that in a historic year also saw them claim the first Big Nine Conference title in school history and making it through the regular season undefeated and yet the third place finish almost didn’t happen — it was almost better.

I’m not mocking the team of course and for reasons that will become clear soon enough, they have been an absolute joy to cover over the years. Yet, they had a chance to finish higher, to compete for a state championship in Class A, but as I’ve already said, winning is tough especially when you reach the level they played at this year.

Austin won it’s quarterfinal game against Bemidji 3-2 in overtime, placing them in the state semifinals against St. Thomas Academy, a soccer power in the state. It wasn’t going to be easy, but this team doesn’t flinch from a challenge. It never has. Instead it runs straight to it like a good team — or any team really — should and want to do.

Austin scored first in the first half and then St. Thomas answered, tying the game. And then Austin really answered and the Packers, on the verge of making the championship game, entered the second half with a 3-1 lead, a situation many teams this year could tell you, makes things awfully complicated.

The Packers throughout the season proved they are a second-half team so if you have the lead on them, be prepared for a fight and if you are trailing, the hill just got a lot steeper.

But St. Thomas is a good soccer team — they always have been — and they kept chipping away until the score was tied 3-3 heading to the first and then second overtime where a header past Josh Brehmer won St. Thomas the game and a trip to the title game.

Literally, that’s the way the ball bounces.

Afterward, though, was the true testimonial of this team — how they handled it. I’ve seen a lot of post-game happiness and sadness and just by watching I can tell you that losing is a sting that doesn’t go away. I’m sure each player might still be thinking every now and again that there might have been something they could have done differently, but the fact still stands — one team must win and one team must lose.

In this case, yes, the Packers were devastated. For an entire game they fought for a lead, lost that lead, and still fought for the win, only to have it snatched away by a very good team.

That showed as each player sat or lay where they stopped, the disbelief showing on their weary faces, and yet, they quickly pulled themselves up again and walked through the line — shaking hands and patting the backs of the St. Thomas players.

This soccer team thrills in the game itself. At its very core they play the game — yes, to win — but also for the sake of the play itself and they do it with the respect of the other team in mind. Yes, they want to win, yes, they want to be the best, but if you are an opponent knocked down by them there is a good chance you will be helped up again by that same player.

That’s a reflection on head coach Jens Levisen, the coaching staff and of course the parents who expect not only good players but good men so that when people look back on the Austin Packers soccer team they look back on a quality team with quality players and quality coaches. Not just good, but quality. It’s a theme that runs through the Austin Packers sports program in general.

The other thing the Packers did was show it belonged on the state stage. Soccer can often times be metro-friendly in terms of where the good teams come from. It’s often a matter of numbers — Twin Cities schools have more to choose from.

I’m sure there were some that saw Austin, Worthington and Bemidji and thought, this will be a Twin Cities champion this year. The fact is, yes, it will be but not by default. Austin pushed St. Thomas the entire way. They never gave an inch, never bowed down to a school that has known past state success.

They played their game and their game was plenty good enough to get them to where they are now.

Austin High School and the city of Austin have a lot to be proud of with this team. They represented the sport, but more importantly represented the school and city to the standards we hope to be recognized for.

This puts these players in a pretty lofty position because now there are younger players who aren’t envisioning themselves as Ronaldo or the winning goal-scorer for Manchester United.

Right now, there is a 10-year-old envisioning himself as Mooday Wah, Caleb Simerson or Kevin Ortiz. These kids are now role models not just because they are good — but because they are …

Good men.