Brian Machut doesn’t play any offseason lacrosse. No elite teams, no summer trips to the East Coast, no tossing the ball around in the back yard. Nothing.

For Machut, the start of the lacrosse season means time to dust the cobwebs off his gear and wipe the rust from his game.

“He gets better all season,” Wayzata coach Chad Herr said about Machut, a senior attackman who focuses most of his time on hockey. “Because it’s really bad at the begging and far better at the end.”

Judging by the deft touch he used to score the winning goal in the Trojans’ 5-4 victory over previously unbeaten Champlin Park on Tuesday in a state boys’ lacrosse tournament quarterfinal, Machut might just be entering his prime.

With Wayzata nursing a one-goal lead in the fourth quarter, Trojans junior midfielder Adam Grooms whipped a pass through heavy traffic in front the Champlin Park net to an open Machut near the left post. It seemed unlikely Grooms could have even seen Machut through the forest of players in front of the goal, much less get the ball to him.

“Our attackmen are pretty good at sneaking around the net, so I just know to trust them when they are back there,” Grooms said. “It’s just like a sixth sense, I guess.”

Machut, who led the unseeded Trojans (13-4) with 25 goals entering the state tournament, took his time once he caught the ball. No. 3 seed Champlin Park’s suffocating defense doesn’t surrender many scoring chances, much less open looks from three feet out. Machut wasn’t about to waste it.

“I just wanted to make one fake and then just make sure I got it in the net,” Machut said about his goal that put Wayzata ahead 5-3 with 8:38 left in the fourth quarter. “I took my time because there wasn’t really any D pressing on me.”

Champlin Park (14-1), which beat Wayzata 5-4 during the regular season, pulled to within one on a goal by Gage Monson scored with 23.1 seconds left. Wayzata’s Peter Stammers won the ensuing faceoff, and the Trojans killed the clock until turning it over with 5.7 seconds left. Champlin Park was unable to get off a shot after taking the ball out from behind the left of the goal. Wayzata midfielder Patrick Wardell played a starring role in the Trojans’ airtight defensive set.

“I’d like to think we have a great defense, too,” Wayzata coach Chad Herr said after the Trojans allowed just six shots on goal. “We played some pretty tough competition and didn’t let up many more goals than (Champlin Park) overall in the season with a lot tougher competition. Our defense is good.”

-- Loren Nelson

First Report

Brian Machut scored twice, including a crucial fourth-quarter goal off a feed from Adam Grooms, as unseeded Wayzata knocked off No. 3 seed and previously unbeaten Champlin Park 5-4 on Tuesday in the opening quarterfinal game of the boys’ state lacrosse tournament at Chaska High School.

Grooms, a junior midfielder, whipped a pass through heavy traffic in front of the goal to Machut, who made a nifty move to get Champlin Park goaltender Bryce Plunkett out of position. Machut, a senior attackman, was stationed near the left post and calmly deposited the ball in the goal to put the Trojans (13-4) ahead 5-3 with 8:38 left in the fourth.

Champlin Park’s Gage Monson scored with 23.1 seconds left in the fourth to pull the Rebels to within 5-4. Wayzata’s Peter Stammers won the ensuing faceoff, and the Trojans killed the clock until turning it over with 5.7 seconds left. Champlin Park was unable to get off a shot after taking the ball out from behind the goal.

Machut, also a hockey standout, scored with 36 seconds left in the first half to give No. 7-ranked Wayzata a 3-1 lead.

No. 4-ranked Champlin Park (14-1) rallied in the third quarter on goals by Luke Dalman, his second of the game, and Monson to close to within 4-3 heading into the fourth. Wayzata’s Max Stecker also scored in the fourth.

-- Loren Nelson