BOYS Top 20 Preview: #3 Lakeville North

On to the #3 team in our Lax Numbers rankings - the original electric factory, Lakeville North Panthers. The Panthers have enjoyed pure dominance in the south metro for years in 2023 they won their first state championship. Last year, they battled their way through the regular season and got hot at the right time, running all the way back to the state final before falling to the Red Knights.

“Tale of the Tape”

*according to LaxNumbers

**according to MN Lax Hub

• 2024 Record: 14-5**

• Strength of Schedule: 76.8 (3rd Hardest)*

• Team Offense: Averaged 13.26 Goals For per game (4th in MSHSL)**

  • Graduted Senior Production: 19.2%

• Team Defense: Averaged 7.16 Goals Against per game (21st MSHSL)**

  • Graduated Defensive Personnel: two SSDMs, two depth D-Poiles

Offense Returning

Blake Piscietello (84/26)

Carson Piscietello (50/46)

Andy Slattery (26/13)

Jackson Whalen (22/10)

Lane Johnson (12/7)

Henry Johnson (8/0)

Defense Returning

Mitch Halstead - Close D

Reese Hunt - Close D

Joel Schlauderaff - Close D

Todd Lewis - Close D

Jack Nieson - Starting LSM

Tate Bouman - Staring Goalie (.576 sv%)

2025 Schedule

Their South Suburban Schedule, like Prior Lake in the previous post, will offer up some big matchups as they stand today. They will have ranked matchups against: Prior Lake (#2), Eagan (#5), Farmington (#11), The Valley (#14) & Rosemount (#17). I also expect Lakeville South and Shakopee to also be much better this year and could be ranked in the top 20 by the time these games are played.

Out of Conference they have: Owatonna, East Ridge (#7), Edina (#10), BSM (#1), Maple Grove (#18) and Northfield.

The Panthers will continue their trend of playing a tough regular season to prepare themselves for playoffs. The south suburban will continue to provide strong matchups and the Panthers have earned some big OOC games with their program success over the last decade.

Final Thoughts

Last year proved that you can never count the Panthers out in a single elimination format with the elite talent they have. This team has been built around an elite, maybe best in the state, 2025 class. They have been to back to back state finals and will look to continue that trend. They return nearly their entire starting lineup from last season.

Now, the elephant in the room that, if you have read this far, is burning in your mind. The graduation of superstar Quinn Power. This is the big question mark for the Panthers this season as Power made his mark in the MSHSL record books and was the true leader of this team. He was an ironman that posted an 82% face off percentage (against the 3rd hardest schedule) and last year was an integral part of the offense as well with 48 points. You can never truly replace a player of that caliber. North’s depth is unknown as they have such a strong group of 2025s, we have not really seen a lot of the program below them until this year.

North’s identity the past two seasons was their ability to start fast and put away games with their dominance at the Face-Off X. Not only does that limit the possessions the other team has to score, but, it gives their high octane attack group increased touches and opportunities to do their thing. Last year, they did show the ability to play settled offense a lot more than they did in 2023, but, without face-off domination, will their identity change? Good news for the Panther faithful, they get all of their poles back and a good goalie. They also will benefit from a healthy Jack Neison at LSM who missed a lot of time last year. Jack is one of the most under-rated players in the state and will be a huge part of their ability to weather the storm at the face-off X.