On Thursday night at Academy of Holy Angels’ StarDome, a dream three years in the making came to fruition: Prior Lake is headed to the state tournament.
“We’ve been knocking on the door, and this is our third time,” Lakers coach Chris Fleck said, referring to Prior Lake's consecutive trips to the finals of the section playoffs.
“I guess third time’s the charm, right?” Fleck added with a grin.
The Lakers trounced No. 2 seed Edina 13-4 in the Section 6 finals on Thursday, earning the program’s first trip to the state tournament.
Senior face-off specialist Jack Dessler, a first-team All-Sate selection by the Minnesota State High School Boys’ Lacrosse Coaches’ Association, proved to be invaluable in the second half, winning the majority of his draws and keeping the ball in Prior Lake's hands.
“We just came out with a lot of intensity,” Dessler said “We really killed it tonight.”
Edina coach Travis Wells said that you can’t expect to succeed when giving a team like the Lakers possession after possession.
“We’ve been kind of losing draws all year, and we’ve been able to play through it,” Wells said. "Tonight was more about possessions, and we just weren’t getting the possessions we needed.”
Junior attacker Devin Truso has scored seven goals (including three on Thursday) during the postseason for Prior Lake (12-4), and says that the infectious energy spills over from the Lakers' bench onto the field.
“The sidelines, all the hype got us going and we kept the energy up,” Truso said.
Senior midfielder Ryan Larson added a pair of goals in the win over Edina (14-2), giving him six for the playoffs, and said that the Lakers are gelling at the right time.
“Edina is a great team, they deserve to be (ranked) No. 1,” Larson said. “We played as a team, and we played better (than the Hornets) today.”
Prior Lake was more than ready to face a talented team, as two of the losses the Lakers suffered during the regular season came against Section 6’s No. 1 seed Bloomington Jefferson and the second-seeded Hornets.
Edina is ranked No. 1 in the latest state coaches’ poll, while Prior Lake is ranked sixth, and Fleck credits a tough schedule for his team’s battle-tested nerves.
“Every year we try to schedule the hardest schedule possible, and I really think that prepared us for where we are today,” Fleck said.
