Pack opens on the attack to down Bombers

Published 5:39 pm Saturday, October 13, 2018

By Rocky Hulne

Austin’s Caleb Simerson with a shot against Cannon Falls in a Section 1A quarterfinal match up at Art Hass Stadium Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The top-seeded Austin boys soccer team didn’t waste any time breaking the ice as it scored early on in a 3-0 win over No. 8 seeded Cannon Falls in the Section 1A quarterfinals in Art Hass Stadium Saturday.

Danny Vargas knocked in a header on a corner kick from Kevin Ortiz in the second minute of the game to give the Packers (14-2 overall) all the offense they would need in the win.

Austin’s Mooday Wah winds up for a shot against Cannon Falls in a Section 1A quarterfinal match up at Art Hass Stadium Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

CF, which had all three of its shots stopped by Austin sophomore Case Berg, was also content to keep its defense back for much of the game.
“When they’ve got everybody back on defense we’ve got to be able to bust through right away or it can quickly become very frustrating,” Austin head coach Jens Levisen said. “We’re aware that we’re going to encounter that and we’ve got to figure out a way to encounter it.”
Kee Reh put Austin up 2-0 when he scored on a put-back in the first half and Henry Tolbert scored on a pass from Andres Garcia two minutes into the second half.
Austin senior Caleb Simerson the Packers are driven to bring their best on every night, regardless of what their opponents do.

“We don’t focus on how they’re playing,” Simerson said. “We just focus on our work ethic and how we can improve. We want to come out and play our best. Focusing in practice is one of the biggest things we do to get ready.”

Austin’s Dylan Hanegraaf settles the ball from the air against Cannon Falls in a Section 1A quarterfinal match up at Art Hass Stadium Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Austin will now prepare for the Section 1A semifinals, where they will host Byron at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Packers had beaten Byron 6-0 on Sept. 29.
Levisen said he’s hoping the Packers can carry in some momentum after showing a little rust against the Bombers.
“After a week off, it was interesting to see how we’d come out,” Levisen said. “I thought we played pretty well, but at the same time you could see we were a little out of it. It was good to get one in today and we’ll hope to have a good practice before we play Byron.”

If Austin beats Bryon, it would host the Section 1A title game at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Austin is chasing its second straight trip to the Minnesota Class A State Boys Soccer Tournament after taking third in state last year.

Austin’s Andres Garcia is pinched between Cannon Falls’ Nathan Van Zuilen (19) and Tom Sucher (28) in the first half a Section 1A quarterfinal match up at Art Hass Stadium Saturday. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

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