By Pat Ruff
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

ROCHESTER -- For the first time in its history, the Austin Packers boys soccer team is headed to the state Class A tournament. And for one of the few times ever, Rochester Lourdes is not.

Austin rode some superb individual plays, as well as strong overall play in its midfield to get it done. The result was a 2-0 win at Rochester Regional Sports Stadium on Saturday in the Section One, Class A championship.

The Packers (14-5) will play a state quarterfinal at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Roseville High School against No. 2 seed Simley (17-1-4).

It was no surprise that Austin and Lourdes were meeting in the final, the Packers seeded second and the Eagles first. It was also no big surprise that Austin was finally able to emerge as a champion.

"Nobody needed to tell me that (Austin) was a quality team," Lourdes coach Tom Kane said. "We knew they were a good team and that they had their sights on us all year."

At the 25:15 mark of the first half, it was a left-footed thing of beauty by Austin's Rolando Rubio that set the tone for the entire night.

Austin had hinted just a minute before, that it needed to be taken seriously. That's when it sent a ball caroming off the Lourdes goal post, then followed that by sailing a shot over the entire net.

Rubio's shot, though not nearly so point-blank, didn't miss its mark. Rubio was setting up on the far-right sideline and about 20 yards from the Lourdes goal. With his body facing the opposite sideline, he spun at the ball and drove it with a slight arc, the ball not stopping until it had gone just over the head of Lourdes goalie Will Elder and into the upper right-corner of the net.

Elder was caught by surprise in that it angled in the way it did.

"It was a letdown to give up a goal like that," Kane said. "Will thought it was going to sail over the net."

Really, Kane considered the entire first half a letdown. His team was trying to get to state for the ninth time in the last 13 years. But in those first 40 minutes, he didn't think they were trying hard enough.

"I thought in the first half that Austin outhustled us," Kane said. "In a game like this you just have to leave it all on the field. But Austin seemed like they just wanted it more than us."

No doubt, the Packers' were starving for their first state-tournament appearance.

"I just think we were determined," said Rubio, a three-year starter. "The big thing for us is we stayed as a team."

All game, they also stayed as the team churning out the most quality shots. Lourdes actually won the battle of shots on goal, 14-11. But this was definitely a contest that came down to quality over quantity.

And when Lourdes ever did threaten with a real chance, 6-foot-1 and sure-handed goalie Ryan Rasell was there, usually bounding up and grabbing the ball out of the air in traffic.

"Ryan was under the weather, but he came up big for us in the net," Austin coach Jens Levisen said. "He felt a little ill earlier in the day, but showed up and played hard to get the shutout. I had high expectations for these guys, in my first year in Austin they were eighth-graders on my C-squad team. They learned how to play as a team, but I never knew how high we could take it."

The notion that the game was up for grabs ceased with 2:21 left in the second half. Austin's Jacob Brehmer had the ball and was working with his back to the goal, about 15 yards from Elder. He suddenly spun hard to his right and rifled the ball with his right foot. It punched high into the net and just passed the reach of Elder.

Brehmer's goal put the game away and left Lourdes thinking about next year. It also left Kane reflecting on what a productive season this had been, despite his team's inexperience as the Eagles finished with a 14-5-2 record.

Winning the section title brought more honors for the Packers. Brehmer was named to the All-State Team for his great senior season. Jake Levisen of the Packers was named as the Section 1A assistant coach of the year.

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