The third time was a charm for the Austin U15 boys soccer team. After taking second place in the summer state tournament as a U13 and a U14 team, the squad finally came through with a C2 state title when it beat Urban Ventures 3-2 on penalty kicks in Shakopee recently.

Gree Ha scored the fourth and clinching goal in the shootout for Austin and Casey Berg had a key save in net to help seal the win. Urban Ventures scored the tying goal with five minutes left in regulation, but Berg was able to recover and step up in the shutout.

“It was very nerve racking,” Berg said. “I just tried to take it one kick it at a time. I knew if I stopped it, we had a good chance of making our kicks because we put a lot of time in practice on penalty kicks. I put a lot of trust in my team to put the PKs in the net.”

Austin finished its championship season with a total record of 18-2-1 overall and it outscored its opponents 78-16 for the whole summer. Berg finished the season with 10 total shutouts in net.

Austin head coach Bernie Boldt has coached the team for the past three years and he’s seen the team improve every single season.

“It was pretty much the same core,” Boldt said. “We had a few people that came and left since those years, but it was pretty much the same guys. From year to year, I watched all of our players improve. Watching them from that first year to this year, their ball skills have tremendously improved and their passing was fantastic.”

Austin was driven to take the title from the start of the season. The team was so driven that Rylan Boldt chose to play with the U15 squad for two games instead of playing with the Olympic Development Regional showcase.

Mee Reh, a midfielder for Austin, said the team was giving a full effort throughout the summer.

“It was a good summer, we had to work hard,” Reh said.

Bernie said his team has made big strides in the passing game over the past few years and he’s hoping that will translate to continued success for the high school program.

“We have a lot of talent in our midfield and our defense,” Bernie said. “It was fun to watch them play. They work together and they trust each other a lot.”

Austin had five summer teams competing in state tournament this summer. The U18 boys took second in C2 as they lost the title game on penalty kicks and U11 boys took second in C3.

All of that winning means the Packers will have a lot of talent when the season begins this fall. Berg said it can be a battle for players to find their way in the rotation.

“Everyone is so skilled. The team above us is C1 and they’re all really good,” Berg said. “They’ve got a few guys who had a little bit of varsity minutes last year. It’s hard to just try and move up from C squad to JV. Everyone’s just so good.”