Austin Packers boys hockey falls 5-2 to LaCrescent-Hokah in season opener Tuesday evening

The Austin Packers boys hockey team was on the road to LaCrescent Tuesday evening to kick off their 2022-2023 season against the Lancers of LaCrescent-Hokah in a non-conference matchup, and it was Alex Von Arx and Wyatt Farrell each scoring two goals apiece to help lead the Lancers to a 5-2 victory.

Von Arx tallied the first two goals of the game at 3:44 and 7:33 of the first period to put LaCrescent-Hokah in front 2-0, and a power-play marker from Farrell at 14:48 of the period made the score 3-0 in favor of the Lancers at the end of one period.  LaCrescent-Hokah’s Cooper Hill scored the only goal of the second period for a 4-0 Lancer lead, and after Farrell’s second goal of the game at 1:01 of the third period increased the Lancers’ lead to 5-0, Gahvin Schaefer tallied Austin’s first goal of the season at 3:24 of the period to make the score 5-1, and a goal from Wyatt Hamlin, with an assist to Grady Carney at 16:16 of the third period accounted for the 5-2 final.

LaCrescent-Hokah outshot Austin 47-16 for the game, and Packer netminder Ethan Knox turned away 42 shots in the contest, while Lancers goaltender Logan Yehle made 14 saves to earn the win between the pipes.  LaCrescent-Hokah was 1 for 3 on the power play for the game, while Austin was 0 for 2.

Austin opens the season with a record of 0-1, and the Packers will open the home portion of their 2022-2023 schedule Thursday night when they play host to the Windom Eagles in a non-conference matchup, with face-off at Riverside Arena scheduled for 7:15 p.m.