BOYS - Shakopee

Moving on to #4 in the LaxNumbers rankings on the boys side… Shakopee

2023 Record

14-5 - State, 4th place

Lost Notables

Linus Toward - 61G, 13A, one of the purest goal scorers in MN lax history. I know he had the record for career goals at one point, but, was battling it out with a couple other guys. Nonetheless, tip of the cap

Gavin McNee - 15G, 12A

Zane Orchard - 21G, 33A

Samuel Zovic - 21 GBs, 51 CTs

Harrison Vega - 12G, 7A

Jadon Hellerud - Starting FO/S, only 54% which surprised me when I looked it up, but seemed to be a guy that always could win the big FO for the Sabres when it mattered. Also was great against the top FOGO’s in the state

Weston Brosam - .579 sv%, 5.77 GAA, Starting goalie since 8th grade. Another leader for the Sabres with a ton of varsity experience. He was always making the BIG save when it needed to be made.

Returning Notables

Tanner Bachelor - 45GB, 62CTs - D1 bound to Queens, has been on the starting defense since he arrived in high school. A phenomenal athlete and tough defender to anchor a defense that will have some newcomers

Jacob Lee - 49GBs, 42CTs - one of the more under-rated LSMs in the state in my opinion. This guy has a pair of mitts on him and can get some tough GBs on face -offs and also causes a lot of chaos in the middle of the field

Landon Toward - 15G, 10A - Been thrown into the mix since he was a freshman and took on a much larger role last year as a sophomore. I expect him to be the quarterback of the offense now as an upperclassman

Charlie Lindahl - 10G, 10A

Zach Docteur - 11G, 9A

Kaden Gunnare - 54% face-off spelling Hellerud in 2023. From the eye test in 2023, he looked like a more than capable replacement and will be able to fill that role as a senior in 2024.

Instant Reaction

A very strong 2023 class has moved on. These players all were key contributors to the rise of Shakopee lacrosse over the last 5 years. This class was a group that had a lot of “firsts” for the Sabres that will be missed. Overall, I have been impressed on what coach Pollock has built at Shakopee in his tenure. A team that was not overly competitive prior to 2019 has become a top 5 mainstay and had an amazing season in 2023, one OT goal away from the state final. They will need to replace some big names but do have some younger guys returning that were big contributors last season. They will take on a leadership role and bring up the new guys.

I don’t expect Shakopee to lose much steam and should compete for both a conference and section title in 2024. The big caveat to this is that they will be moving into section 6 which holds, based on the final poll in 2023, 5 top 10 teams (Edina, Rosemount, PL, Valley, Shakopee) as well as Jefferson AND the other new addition, Eden Prairie. This is unfortunate as only one of these teams will make it to the state tournament in 2024, but, based on the current playoff model, stacked sections are nothing new. Despite all of this, I still think the Sabres are very capable of winning the section and getting back to the state tournament

The Future

Luckily for Shakopee, there should be a nice pipeline of players coming in as they have grown a strong youth program and have been among the state’s best at the 14U and 12U level. Their 2027 class has been strong all the way through youth and potentially could see a few of those guys be thrown into roles on the varsity team in 2024.

2024 Schedule

Like LVN, they will get their strong SSC scheduled games and have tough competition throughout the conference. Last year, there were so many twists and turns in the south suburban and I expect it to be the same way again. Shakopee will defend their conference title and should be a favorite to win the conference again. OOC games last year included: Jefferson, Chaska,  Buffalo, Breck, Moorhead, & Mahtomedi.

Looks like they have Jefferson, Northfield, Chaska, Buffalo, Holy Angels posted on the 2024 schedule right now - one more TBD.

In Conclusion

Shakopee will continue to roll. They system has been built for them to continue their success as a program. Last year they were a team built on defense and low scoring games, we will see if that continues with a new goalie and some new poles in the mix. They will need to solve lost production from Linus Toward graduating and it looks like younger brother Landon is already on his way.

Next Week: Prior Lake