Section 4 Preview: 2024 MSHSL Girls Lacrosse
EDITOR’S NOTE: We tweaked this write up on Wednesday, flipping Gentry’s and WBL’s positions. However, we didn’t know the pod recorded on Monday. So…this won’t really match up with what they said as far as our order, but the more we thought about things, the more we think Gentry edges out WBL. We were going to try to rewrite it back to what it was, but that seemed dishonest. So we didn’t. We still haven’t received a response form the East Side Source.
Section 3 was wild…Section 4 isn’t quite the same roller coaster, but is really strong in the top 3 and then starts to fall away drastically after we get through the top 5-6.
No changes in or out of Section 4 this year.
Mrs. Pmac’s Source’s Section 4 2024 Projected Top 4
First – Stillwater
Second – Gentry Academy/Mounds Park Academy
Third – White Bear Lake
Fourth – Mahtomedi
Keeping Our Eye On – Hill Murray
Yeah…the haters out there will say we are disrespecting Gentry for even the thought they’d be the 3 seed. That’s fine. Its not too unlike Section 3…where the top 3 are really close and our rankings were sliding around as we typed this. We’ll walk you through this, relax. Of course, if you don’t like it (looking at you East Side Source), our IG and Twitter/X DMs are open (and we’re waiting for you to respond ESS).
State tournament info from 2007-2023: see full archives here.
Stillwater
2023 Record 14-5
2023 Won Section 4 from the 1 seed by beating Gentry Academy 10-7
State Tournament Appearances: 11 times - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
Its tough to discount all the past performance and one of the strongest youth programs in the state (even if it feeds Stillwater, Gentry, St, Croix Prep, Hill Murray and god knows who else). It’s also equally difficult to discount the past performances of the returners from Stillwater. Like the other top programs, it’s one class of production out, one class of production in. 2026 Indi Capelle is really one we want to keep an eye out for, and that’s not to say anything negative about Neubauer, Mosely or the Keykals. They also have Rio Atkinson (2025) returning in goal, with state experience – check out all the details here.
Key wins:
East Ridge 14-3, 13-7
CDH 15-12
Rosemount 14-13
White Bear Lake 12-4
Woodbury 11-10
Edina 12-11
Key losses:
Prior Lake 10-8
Park 6-5
Lakeville South 10-4, 17-9
Edina 10-7
Key players they lose:
(7) 2023s
Tori Liljegren (M) - 31 points/52 DC - D1 Lindenwood
Ellie Fisher (A) - 42 points - D3 UWEC
Emma Nelson (A) - 25 points - D3 CSB
Keira Jelinek (D) - 20 GB/19 FT - D2 Rockhurst
Key players coming back:
2024 Maycie Neubauer (M) - 49 points/35 DC - D2 Florida Southern
2024 Elsa Swenson (D) - 23 GB/27 FT - D2 UCCS
2024 Cassidy Keykal (D) - 20 GB/8 FT - D2 Colorado Mesa
2025 Rio Atkinson (GK) - 8.08 GAA/42.6%
2026 Indi Capelle (M) - 18 DC in 8 games
Gentry Academy/Mounds Park Academy
2032 Record 14-1
2023 3 seed in Section 4, lost to Stillwater 10-7 in section finals.
State Tournament Appearances: 1 time - 2022
As noted above, we had WBL ahead of Gentry until this Wednesday. Source - Explain why you had alleged powerhouse Gentry Academy behind WBL, after beating them 16-8 in section semis last year, while only losing (3) seniors.
Sure…one of the 2023s they lost is a D1 commit, so they lost a little more production than WBL. All club-world everything Samantha Hohn is only a 2026 (this is no disrespect - based on when we’ve seen her play in person, we think she’s the real deal) and they have (3) other college commits coming back along with their 2026 goalie, but the gawdy numbers last year come with a major asterisk. Before WBL in the semis, their strongest competition in 2023 was probably Simley.
To date, they have 11 games scheduled for 2024…4 of which are against WI teams and 2 of the games are booked on the same day (unfortunately, the double booking is the same day as their Orono game - the best MN team on their schedule so far). Unfortunately, a lot of the top MN schools have already posted their schedule on social media, so we don’t expect to see a PL, South or BSM pop up on their schedule.
This isn’t discounting their WI games as push overs…we just aren’t as dialed in to the WI lax scene as we could be. Their WI opponents; Hudson 2X, Kettle Moraine, and University School of Milwaukee were ranked 4, 5, and 3 respectively in WI on LaxNumbers in 2023. Pretty good, in a vacuum.
Those are the reasons why we ORIGINALLY had WBL ahead of Gentry; WBL going all in and perhaps another case of lack of iron sharpening iron for Gentry. Call us haters. Call us biased. Go start your own blog and come up with your own reasons.
OK - So why the flip flop?
Like it, or not, GA/MPA has a ton of talent, they practice together regularly and year round, and we are giving a little head nod to their WI match ups to help get them a little more battle tested than they were last year. It will at least be a litmus test between MN and WI lax.
Key wins:
Simley 13-3
WBL 16-8
Key losses:
Stillwater 10-7
Key players they lose:
(3) 2023s
Eva Anderson (M) - 58 points/42 DC - D1 Kent State
Maggie Fritsch (D)
Key players coming back:
2026 Samantha Hohn (M) - 84 points/29 DC
2024 Ella Berg (M) - 77 points/54 DC - D1 Louisville
2024 Bella Munz (A) - 52 points - D1 George Mason
2024 Lauren Deering (D) - D1 Iona
2026 Ava Davis (GK) - 2.21 GAA/70.2%
White Bear Lake
2023 Record 11-4
2023 2 seed in Section 4, lost to Gentry Academy 16-8 in section semifinals.
State Tournament Appearances: none
What made you move WBL down to 3 when you had them at 2 for so long?
White Bear Lake loses only (4) seniors and none were in the top of their production last year, they have (5) college commits on their roster (headlined and shout out Jensen and Peterson going to play for the the Fighting P-Macs at D1 Detroit Mercy), return all of their offensive production and bring their net minder back. That’s a recipe for success. The top 3 are all going to be good, but we SAW WBL’s strength of schedule (H-M, CDH, Park, Woodbury, Stillwater, St. Croix Prep, East Ridge, Blake and Mahtomedi for the notables), making them a stronger team…even if their record come playoff time won’t suggest it without digging a little past the surface.
Those are all positives. What about the negatives? Gentry is in pretty much the same spot as WBL, but we think might have a touch more depth. The top 3-4 players might be close to pushes, but what about the rest of the lineup and bench? Gentry also did beef up their schedule with the WI matchups, which were new after we wrote our original draft that the crew had for their early recording. Thus, GA/MPA gets the nod over WBL. Barely. But we REALLY hope they are the 2 and 3 seeds in the section so we can see them settle it on the field. And we hope they stream.
Key wins:
Hill-Murray 12-5
CDH 9-8
Woodbury 13-10
Key losses:
Park 7-6
Stillwater 12-4
East Ridge 7-6
Gentry Academy 16-8
Key players they lose:
(4) 2023s
Key players coming back:
2024 Beverly Peterson (M) - 57 points/96 DC/80 GB - D1 Detroit Mercy
2024 Jaeda Jensen (A) - 62 points - D1 Detroit Mercy
2024 Bella Kuyava (D) - 22 GB/13 FT - D3 Carthage
2024 Quinn Denne (D) - 19 GB/8 FT - D2 Missouri Western
2024 Mesa McElmury (GK) - 8.00 GA/44.6%
Mahtomedi
2023 Record 9-6
2023 5 seed in Section 4, lost to Stillwater in section semifinals
State Tournament Appearances: 1 time - 2007
Now…they lose their #1 point scorer to college, but get a lot of their production and goal keeping back in 2024. They had (2) 2 goal losses last year that now look really bad (H-M and Breck, but the avenged the H-M loss 18-11). They’re a tough out every year. Also – shout out to scheduling Hudson (one of WI’s top teams year in and year out). We think more schools should be taking advantage of that opportunity on the South side of town (just like Andover and Gentry have).
Key wins:
Hill-Murray 18-11
Easy Ridge 10-9
Key losses:
Breck 9-8
CDH 16-5
Hill-Murray 14-13
Simley 14-9
WBL 17-7
Stillwater 18-8
Key players they lose:
(5) 2023s
McKenna Cunnington (M) - 88 points/54 DC - D1 Oregon
Key players coming back:
2024 Evi Cegielski (M) - 60 points/52 DC
2026 Brooklyn Kragness (A) - 29 points
2025 Annie Tanner (M) - 23 points/36 DC - D1 Niagara
2025 Addie Demars (GK) - 12.22 GAA/47.2%
Hill-Murray
2023 Record 8-6
2023 4 seed in Section 4, upset by Mahtomedi in section quarterfinals
State Tournament Appearances: 1 time - 2021
God damn it Hill-Murray. Sorry for the blasphemy Catholic school kids, but we’re are getting sick and tired of pumping your tires and then you guys letting us down. Why do we overrate you year after year? You lose two big time scorers, but have built a real strong 2026 class along with 2027 Mac Murphy and her 41 points. Even more interesting is if and how will Frannie Primoli come back after her injury last spring. Can these youngsters provide the production support to D1 commit Olivia Godbout and finally justify our year after year over inflation? Maybe a more balanced attack will bode well for the Pioneers…and maybe even more so in 2025 when Frannie is fully recovered and the youngsters are less young.
Key wins:
Rosemount 9-8
Simley 15-14
Mahtomedi 14-13
Key losses:
WBL 12-5
Woodbury 9-8
Farmington 12-11
Blake 13-9
East Ridge 13-12
Mahtomedi 18-11
Key players they lose:
(3) 2023s
Cate Kangas (M) - 62 points/62 DC - D1 Louisville
Olivia Katz (A) - 46 points
Key players coming back:
2024 Olivia Godbout (M) - 70 points/45 DC - D1 Lindenwood
2027 Macallan Murphy (A) - 41 points
2025 Frannie Primoli (M) - 20 points (2022 stats - injured in 2023)
2025 Sophia Sampson (A) - 29 points
2026 Sierra Andert (GK) - 9.71 GAA/41.6%
Mounds View
2023 Record 3-12
2023 9 seed in Section 4, lost to Stillwater in section quarterfinals
State Tournament Appearances: 1 time - 2010
Bubbling up a little higher than their record indicated form 2023, we slide Mounds View in at the 6 spot. Another case of losing a few seniors (3) returning most of the production, having some options in goal (even if 2023 seems to have been a learning experience). They upset Irondale last year in the section first round.
Totino-Grace
2023 Record 6-9
2023 6 seed in Section 4, lost to Gentry Academy in section quarterfinals
State Tournament Appearances: 1 time - 2007. Note: won Northcentral Schoolgirls Lacrossse Association State Championship in 2002 & 2003
Pushing the social media presence is Krista Munsinger from Totino-Grace. Coming in at 6-9 last year, T-G lost in the section QF to Gentry. They lost (8) 2023s, but return the aforementioned 2025 with all her social media press and her 43 points. They’re losing a significant portion of their squad #s wise, but get their first, third, and fourth point earners back, along with their primary goalie from last year’s campaign. Their schedule is pretty much laid out, with all the place holders in for their conference crossover games.
Irondale
2023 Record 5-8
2023 8 seed in Section 4, upset by Mounds View in section play in game
State Tournament Appearances: none
Losing (11) 2023s, we place the Knights from Irondale in the 8th spot in Section 4. Stats are not totally complete from Irondale, but they do lose their primary point scorers and one of their goalies. Of the (11) they are losing, (5) are defenders with only (2) defensive players left over from last year. That could out a lot of pressure on the goalie returning.
Roseville
2023 Record 3-12
2023 7 seed in Section 4, lost to White Bear Lake in section quarterfinals
State Tournament Appearances: none
Giving us a pause are the Roseville…checking notes…Raiders (with a wolf mascot/logo, kinda curious for being named the Raiders). Anyway…top 4 point returners are back, goalie is back, lost (4) seniors. Seems like a great opportunity for improvement.
Columbia Heights
2023 Record 2-11
2023 11 seed in Section 4, lost to Totino Grace in section play in game
State Tournament Appearances: none
Columbia Heights had a tough run in 2023…and they are losing their top 2 scorers to graduation. They do have their tendie back, but they have a lot of work to do in 2024.
Tartan & North St. Paul
2023 Record 2-10
2023 10 seed in Section 4, loose to Roseville in section play in game
State Tournament Appearances: none
Rounding out section 4 is Tartan and North St. Paul. Last year they were co-oped together and this year MSHSL has they split apart. They also didn’t list out their info on MN Lax Hub, so until we get educated, they reside at the bottom of our list.