Boys Games - Week: April 15-April 20
We had a great kick-off to the 2024 season last week and now we enter the first full week of games. The first “real” DTA Media/Writer’s poll came out Monday with some teams shuffling around and some newcomers to the top 10. There are still a handful of teams that have not played yet, so, we are excited to see some of these teams finally get into action this week.
NOTE: Will update this post with the second half of the games later this week.
Monday, April 15
Blaine 7 @ Centennial 16: This game was the most intriguing game on Monday, I know I am late to writing this as a “preview” so I will recap what I saw. First and foremost, shoutout to NorthMetroTV for the live stream. Clear, crisp picture. Good camera work, professional announcers that knew the kids and had some background on the teams and… REPLAYS! Lets go!! This was a sloppy “early season” game for both teams but it was fairly competitive. It was a 1-2 goal game for the first 3 quarters with both teams exchanging leads. However, the cougars amped up energy with an 8 goal 4th quarter. It was too much for Blaine and Centennial prevailed with a 16-7 win. The centennial big guns had 6 points each: Scherman (5g,1a) & Adams (4g,2a). Gavin Cunningham added 5 points (2g,3a) and goalie Trenton Kramer had 11 saves on 18 shots (61%)
Tuesday, April 16
Torrential down pour in many areas… some game were cancelled… but some games got played
Eagan 13 v STA 8: this is usually a tough, physical section rivalry game and last night was no different. Lots of penalties. I think at one point it was 4v3 for a few seconds! Eagan just pushed tempo the entire time - my guess is they saw that STA strength was on defense and in goal, so, playing 6v6 was going to play to STAs advantage. Eagan pushed nearly every clear and face off to a shot. Eagan FO/S Will McClone went 70% (14/20) and I think that was a factor. Sophomore Luke Hudson for STA had 4 goals for the Cadets and looks to be a rising star. The game was 4-3 Eagan at half, 9-4 after 3. 13-8 final. So, outside of a dominant eagan 3rd quarter, the game was fairly even. Interesting to see what happens if these two teams matchup in sections.
Chanhassen 12 v Buffalo 11: Chanhassen finally getting into game action. This is buffalo’s third game. Didn’t see any of the game but the score surprises me. Thats a competitive game for buffalo and based on the box score… Buffalo got off to a 4-1 lead after 1. But Chan had a 5-0 2nd quarter. It was pretty even the rest of the way. Nonetheless, Chan gets the important section seeding win and knocked some rust off. Buffalo probably can take a lot of positives from this game as they normally have struggled to compete with Chanhassen
Eden Prairie 10 v Chaska 2: This game was 2-1 for a while. Chaska deployed a zone defense for much of the game and did not pressure behind. This slowed EP down for a while, but, adjustments were made and EP was able to figure it out later in the game. EP defense looked strong - goalie Aiden Chipongian was great when called upon… made some key saves early to not give chaska any momentum while the offense figured out the zone.
Brainerd 10 v St. Cloud 6: This score will largely go unnoticed because its outside of the big metro matchups, but, this will have section 8 seeding implications and really a big eye opener as Brainerd was a 3-11 team last year. I felt like St. Cloud was on the rise in section 8 (and they may still be) so this says more about Brainerd to me. A huge win for section seeding, a huge win for their program. Nicely done.
Wednesday, April 17
Andover 15 v Blaine 4: this score surprises me. Andover was 4-11 last year and it looks like they only play 10 games this year? Not sure if the schedule on laxhub is incorrect of it its a modified schedule…. anyway, Blaine has been a pretty strong program over the years and has won section 7 multiple times. Sure, they may be down a bit right now, but, this score still surprises. Maybe not so much that Andover won the game, but, by the margin they did.
Maple Grove 13 v Armstrong 9: Big win for the crimson against a tough conference/section opponent. Surprised this game was played so early in the year, but, MG was in control of this game most of the way. Biggest takeaway for me is that Ricky P only had 2 pts. Armstrong did a good job holding him in check, but, the crimson got 3&2 from Steinkopf and 4&1 from Bakke. They also got 15 saves from goalie Meline. Secondary scoring and goaltending for the crimson were my biggest unknowns - seems like they have answered that early.
Lakeville South 7 v New Prague 5: Meat grinder, defensive battle for two programs on the come up. South was 3-11 last year. New Prague was 7-8. Both teams got most of their players back. Interested to see how the year plays out for both teams. I tried watching the stream of this one but it cut out on me.
Woodbury 8 v Irondale 3: Very low scoring game. Woodbury seems to continue the trend of last year that they are a grind-it-out type team. Play good defense. Control possession time and make few mistakes. I thought the score was going to be a wider margin so irondale held strong despite low output offensively. Interested to see where these two teams end up in may.
Thursday, April 18
What a fun night for boys lacrosse… a lot of great games, one goal games and upsets.
Delano 14 v Mankato 12: I didn’t see this game but looks like a fun shootout in a close game!
Rosemount 11 v Owatonna 10: This score surprises me but it also doesn’t surprise me. At first glance, you have Rosemount (blue blood) playing a smaller outer metro team you think it would be an easy win. But, from having personally played against Owatonna in the past… that is never the case. That team is loaded with athletes and they play TOUGH. Not surprised they gave Rosemount a game.
Buffalo 8 v EP 7: This is a big win for Buffalo. After a rough game against Eastridge on Saturday, they played Chanhassen to a 1 goal loss and now get a big conference win against the Eagles. Buffalo is slowly trending in the right direction… Ill be interested to see rest of their Lake Conference games
Northfield 8 v Shakopee 7: Similar to the Rosemount/Owatonna game above. While I am surprised Northfield won the game, I am not surprised it was a tough matchup against a big SSC team. Northfield is well coached and plays tough. The also have the home field grass field advantage. Going down there is not an easy test. Tip of the cap to Northfield for pulling this out against a team that was in the final 4 last season.
STMA 15 v Minnetonka 13: Another shootout! As an offensive coach by trade, I love to see it. I am not sure STMA has beaten Minnetonka ever. This is a huge win on the road for the Knights.
Edina 9 v Lakeville North 8: In the feature game of the night, these two powerhouses did not disappoint. Back and forth the whole way. Tons of offense in the first half. Defense was the story in the second. Both teams played their butts off. Edina had a 9-6 lead late in the 4th, but North scored two quick ones to make it 9-8 with about 40 seconds left. Edina found a way to win the biggest face off of their season thus far and run out the clock. Brilliant game, tip of the cap to both teams. This is not the last we will see of them