BOYS Top 20 Preview: #14 The Valley

It is odd to see a 6-8 team in the top 20, let alone the top 15 no less. However, as a team that I coached against personally, I think they were better than their record shows. They not only had some high end talent. I think a combination of injuries and lack of depth hurt them a bit last year but six of their eight losses were by 3 goals or less and they gave Edina run for their money in the section quarters.

Im surprised we have gone this far without me having to put this new disclaimer/rule out there. But both The Mrs. PMAC Source and I have decided if graduation years are not listed in lax hub, we aren’t going to dig for it. I know a good handful of the kids and what year they were but, some of this write up may seem incomplete as The Valley does not show years in lax hub.

“Tale of the Tape”

*according to LaxNumbers

**according to MN Lax Hub

• 2024 Record: 6-8

• Strength of Schedule: 75.14 (9th in MSHSL)*

• Team Offense: Averaged 9.36 Goals For per game (38th in MSHSL)**

  • Graduated Senior Production: Not 100% sure (no grad years in Lax Hub). But I do know they lose 4 of their top 7 scorers: Alex Gilbertson (26/6), Caleb Nelson (13/21), Connor Coulson (12/14), Kaden Goff (6/11) who accounted for almost 50% of the teams points. There are a handful of players with a few points that may swing that percentage a bit but they were not significant producers.

• Team Defense: Averaged 7.07 Goals Against per game (18th in MSHSL)**

  • Graduated Defensive Personnel: Jameson Zackery (starting goalie), Connor Coulson (SSDM), Topher Needham (Defense), Jack Randby (Defense)

Offense Returning

Liam Johnson (29/8)

Tyson Bell (21/13)

Carter Harris (13/2)** only 6 games played

Defense Returning

Piercen Haehnel (LSM)

Jayden Hauter (Defense)

WIll Greene (Defense)

2025 Schedule

Within the South Suburban conference they will have tough ranked matchups agains: Prior Lake (#2), Lakeville North (#3), Eagan (#5), Farmington (#11) & Rosemount (#17). 5 of their 7 conference games will be ranked inside the top.

OOC they have Hill-Murray, Hastings, Bloomington Jefferson (#6), Holy Angels, Northfield & Eden Prairie (#8). Adding ranked matchups against Jefferson and EP combined with some of the unranked games against Shakopee, Lakeville South and Hill-Murray, all of whom I see being much improved and even potentially ranked in the top 20 by seasons end, is no joke of a schedule. Props to them.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned above, I think The Valley is better than their 6-8 record shows from a year ago. They battled a significant injury to their best player, Carter Harris, who missed a lot of time last year. Having him back is huge. They have some starting pieces coming back as well so it shouldn’t be a complete rebuild for the… lightning? (not sure what they are now). They also return Liam Johnson and Tyson Bell who had 30+ points last season.

The biggest question mark is replacing goalie Jameson Zackery who was a steady starter for them for a few seasons. Their backup is a sophomore who saw limited time, so, we will see how he integrates into varsity level lacrosse.

The other big loss is midfielder Connor Coulson. Coulson was a true two-way midfielder but really was one of, if not the best, SS Defensive midfielder I personally saw last season. They could do some interesting things defensively with his ability to defend 1v1 on an island. Multiple times we saw him handle attackman with no help without issue and allowed them to double pole at the midfield. Losing him will be a hit to their defense.

I do know that they have had a pretty solid JV program the past few seasons which could be a good sign for what they have coming up.