Monday, June 7, 2010
Lacrosse (B), Lacrosse (G)

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State Lacrosse Tournament

By MSHSL

Eden Prairie girls to defend title; new boys’ champion to emerge
Five of eight qualified teams making inaugural appearances     

Brackets: Boys, Girls

The Minnesota State High School League will conduct its fourth lacrosse tournament for girls and boys June 8-11. Although the schedule is subject to change, as of Sunday, June 6, all four semifinal games will be played at Chanhassen High School , with the boys playing on Tuesday, June 8, and the girls playing on Wednesday, June 9. The third-place and championship games will be played at Mounds View High School , with the boys competing on Thursday, June 10, and the girls competing on Friday, June 11. Potential graduation conflicts may require an adjustment of the schedule which, if necessary, will be posted on the League Web site.     

The Eden Prairie girls will defend their title and earned the No. 1 seed for the fourth year in a row. Runner-up The Blake School of Minneapolis may have something to say about that. Three of the boys’ teams are making first tournament appearances, including Wayzata which knocked off defending champion Minnetonka 8-5 in the section final.      

Boys’ Highlights     
The boys’ semifinals will be played at Chanhassen High School on Tuesday, June 8. The Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights earned the No. 1 seed and are the only team with any previous tournament experience. In the coaches’ association final rankings, Benilde-St. Margaret’s was No. 2, Eagan was No. 5, and Totino-Grace was No. 6. Wayzata was unranked.     
No. 1 Seed – Benilde-St. Margaret’s, St. Louis Park (14-1) vs. No. 4 Seed – Wayzata (11-6) at 6:00 p.m. The Red Knights are making their second tournament appearance. They won the inaugural state tournament in 2007 and still hold the record for fewest goals allowed in a tournament (11). Senior attacker Bailey Dodds, who is committed to play D-I lacrosse for Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., leads the team with 94 points on 73 goals and 21 assists. Second –leading scorer, senior attacker Ryan Butts with 42 goals and 28 assists, has also committed to Sacred Heart. Senior midfielder Sean O’Toole (14 goals, 12 assists) is a third player who has committed to D-I Lafayette College in Easton, Penn. Senior goaltender Connor Gallagher (12 goals in five games) and sophomore goaltender Thomas Gilligan (46 goals in 10 games) have allowed opponents an average of four goals per game while their teammates have averaged nearly 17. Benilde-St. Margaret’s defeated Totino-Grace of Fridley twice (12-5 and 12-7) during the regular season. Wayzata’s inaugural tournament appearance was assured with an 8-5 section final win over defending champion Minnetonka . The Trojans have not played any other tournament qualifiers. They have about a three goals-per-game advantage over opponents. Sophomore attacker Eric Fong leads the team with 58 points on 35 goals and 23 assists. Senior attacker Sean Keogh added 50 points on 18 goals and 32 assists. Junior attacker Ryan Biek is the leading goal-scorer with 37. Senior goaltender Hunter Stemmer has played in all 17 games and has turned away 199 shots on goal.     
No. 2 Seed – Totino-Grace, Fridley (14-3) vs. No. 3 Seed – Eagan (12-4) at 8:00 p.m. Both teams are making first tournament appearances. The Eagles of Totino-Grace lost twice (12-5 and 12-7) to Benilde-St. Margaret’s during the regular season. Senior midfielder Giuseppe Palermo leads the offense with 33 goals and 21 assists. Senior midfielder Nik Colpitts added 27 goals and 22 assists. Senior Ryan Zeilinger has the most minutes in goal and has 104 saves. Eagan has not played any other tournament qualifiers. Senior midfielder leads the offense with 41 goals and 10 assists. Senior attacker Kyle Sturgeon added 13 goals and 27 assists. Sophomore Lucas Peterson handles most of the duty in front of the goal and is 12-4 with 132 saves. Neither team provided any team statistics.     
The third-place is scheduled at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 10, at Mounds View High School . The championship game is scheduled on the same field at 8:00 p.m.     

Girls’ Highlights     
The girls’ tournament is scheduled to begin with semifinals at Chanhassen High School on Wednesday, June 9. Eden Prairie is the top seed for the fourth consecutive year and is competing for its third state championship. The Blake School , the 2009 runner-up, is the only other team to win a title (2008) and is the No. 2 seed. In the final coaches’ association poll, Eden Prairie earned the top rating, followed by Blake at No. 2. Lakeville North/South was No. 10 and Mounds View was unranked.     
No. 1 Seed – Eden Prairie (16-1) vs. No. 4 Seed – Mounds View (13-3) at 6:00 p.m. The Eagles of Eden Prairie are making their fourth consecutive and overall appearance. They are defending their title and won the tournament inaugural title in 2007. During regular-season play Eden Prairie defeated both The Blake School and Lakeville North/South by 15-6 scores. Senior forward Blake Kist leads the offense with 70 goals and 43 assists. Senior forward Maya Farrell added 41 goals and 37 assists. Ninth-grader McKenzie Johnson was the top goalie for Eden Prairie and made 134 saves this season. The Eagles provided no team statistics. Mounds View is making its debut appearance at this year’s tournament. The Mustangs did not face any other tournament qualifiers this year. Mounds View provided no team statistics and incomplete individual statistics.     
No. 2 Seed – The Blake School , Minneapolis (13-3) vs. No. 3 Seed – Lakeville North/South (15-1) at 8:00 p.m. The Bears of The Blake School, who claimed the championship in 2008 and were the 2009 runners-up, return in search of more gold in fourth consecutive and overall appearance. They lost 15-6 to Eden Prairie in their last regular season game. Sophomore midfielder leads the offense with 99 points on 71 goals and 28 assists. Junior forward Hillary Crowe added 45goals and 14 assists. Sophomores Bailey Dunning and Anna Dworsky share the goaltending duties. Dunning has the most minutes and made 80 saves. Dworsky had 30 saves. Blake did not provide team statistics. The Lakeville North/South co-op is making its first tournament appearance and lost a regular season game to Eden Prairie 15-6. Senior midfielder Danica Cutshall has 95 points on 61 goals and 34 assists. Senior midfielder Olivia Perry added a team-leading 71 goals plus 12 assists. Ninth-grade forward Abbie Ness has a team-leading 52 assists plus 30 goals. Junior Nora Vee has the most minutes in goal and has made 166 saves. The team has scored 262 goals.     
The third-place game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June11, at Mounds View High School , followed by the championship game at 8:00 p.m.      

Background Information     
While the premise is the same for both boys’ and girls’ games, there are also several key differences. The girls play 25-minute stop-time halves, and the game is played with 12 players: a goalkeeper, five forwards, and six defenders. The girls’ game is also considered a non-contact game.     
The boys have 10 players on the field at a time: a goalie, three defensemen, three midfielders, and three attackers. They play four 12-minute stop-time quarters.     
Players of both genders may pass, catch or run with the ball in their crosse.     
Minnesota was the 22nd state to add a state lacrosse tournament in 2007. This year 58 girls’ varsity teams representing 73 schools and 52 boys’ varsity teams representing 62 schools registered with the League.     
In 2009 there were 1,862 girls and 1,926 boys playing high school lacrosse in Minnesota . Nationally there were 64,929 girls and 88,596 boys playing the high school game.