When Shane Olson launched a shot in overtime, he didn’t know what had happened; his view of the net was blocked. But when he heard the crowd screaming and was tackled by his White Bear Lake teammates, the result was clear. Olson had just scored the game-winning goal to send the Bears to the boys' lacrosse state championship game with a 14-13 victory over Eden Prairie.

“I was basically just looking for a top-side step and to get a good shot at the net,” said Olson, who finished with a team-high five points. “That moment right there is probably the moment of a lifetime.”

White Bear Lake, the No. 3 seed, finished the game strong to top second-seed Eden Prairie but the Bears started slow. The two time defending champion Eagles jumped out to a 6-1 advantage early in the second quarter behind the strong play of JD Spielman, who tallied six points in the contest.

The Bears, from the weaker Suburban East Conference, aren’t accustomed to playing the state’s top teams on a regular basis and came out on their heels after besting Maple Grove 19-2 in the quarterfinals.

“We haven’t had a huge amount of competition,” coach Brandon Husak said. “These guys are probably going to play a little sharper right at the start of the next game. …We needed someone to push us a little bit.”

Connor Dehnert anchored White Bear Lake’s second-quarter comeback, scoring two of the team’s five unanswered goals to tie the score at six apiece. The Bears went on another run in the second half to set up overtime.

White Bear Lake lost to Eden Prairie in the state tournament the past two seasons and will look to avoid another slow start in the championship.

“I didn’t want to go down to them three years in a row,” Dehnert said. “We’re going to make sure that we come out strong [Saturday] and not weak like the beginning of this game.”

Early in the second quarter it looked like second-seed Eden Prairie was going to run away from third-seed White Bear Lake in the lacrosse state tournament semifinals Thursday night at Hopkins High School.

The two-time defending champion Eagles led 6-1 behind a JD Spielman hat trick but White Bear Lake came out on top 14-13 in overtime to advance to the state championship Saturday night at Minnetonka High School.

Shane Olsen scored the game-winning goal to finish with five points. Connar Dehnert and Joey Goudreau both added four points apiece in the Bears’ victory.

Check back later for more on the game.