Team game. Team game. Team game.

If Rob Horn has said it once to his players, he’s said it a thousand times.

Drill Sergeants are less monotonous than the Blake coach when it comes to hammering home a message.

“We’ve been preaching and focusing and working on team from Day 1,” Horn said. “It’s going to take a team effort to beat that monster.”

That monster? That would be Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

In what looms as the marquee game of the regular season, the Bears and Red Knights – both of whom are unbeaten – are scheduled to meet on May 20 at Blake. The teams are  the consensus Nos. 1 and 2 in the state, although it’s a toss-up as to who gets the top ranking.

“I’ll always go with the more complete team,” said Breck coach Hank Marotske, whose Mustangs have played both of the state’s juggernauts. “That’s a complete unit over there.”

Maraotske, a former Blake coach who guided the Bears to two state championships (2005, 2006) when they were still a club program, saw his Mustangs dismantled 16-3 on Thursday, May 5, in a game that showcased the superb playmaking skills of George Ordway.

A junior attackman, Ordway set up six goals (and scored three of his own) while serving as the catalyst of an offense that is averaging more than 11 goals per game.

The “team, team, team” theme clearly has stuck with Ordway, who has a whopping 26 assists (tied for the most in the state) to go with his six goals this season.
 
“It’s fun,” Ordway said about his role as the Bears’ setup man. “Points are points. I like finding open guys and letting them bury it.”

Ordway’s encore performance certainly didn’t start with a flourish. He hit the right post with one shot and had a goal disallowed, all in the opening few minutes. No matter. He scored the Bears’ first two goals in an eight-second span early in the first quarter before shifting into distribution mode.

“We just try to keep working, even when stuff doesn’t fall our way,” Ordway said. “I know if the first couple don’t drop, that someone else is going to pick me up and bury it.

“That’s kind of nice, to have teammates like that.”

The same could be said of Ordway, that it’s kind of nice to have a guy gift wrapping goals with passes that are so devastatingly effective they are to defenses what dynamite is to paper Mache.

“George had the ability to make those around him better,” Horn said. “And it’s a special gift. When you can see the field as well as he does, and distribute the ball to teammates who are wide open, it makes their job so much easier.”

Most similar to Ordway, in terms of importance to his team, is Breck’s Steven Kiesel. Ranked third in the state with 40 points, Kiesel missed the rivalry showdown because of an ankle injury he suffered Tuesday night against Woodbury.

“I think this team looks to him for their energy,” Marotske said after his Mustangs fell to 2-7. “They look to him for leadership. And I think when he is not on the field these guys don’t have the maturity to know how to step up for the big game.”

Breck’s lineup is loaded with freshmen and sophomore (there are a combined six on the roster) and includes a seventh-grader in attackman David Husband.

“We’re just starting from scratch, and building it from there,” Marotske said.

For Marotske, the idea is to reach Blake’s level. To piece together a team with no apparent weaknesses. To have a “team game” fueled by a player such as Ordway.

“He makes smart decisions with the ball,” Horn said. “When George makes smart decisions we look good.”

1. George Ordway, Blake
The Bears' junior attackman scored three goals and probably could have doubled that total if not for an unselfish style of play that led to a whopping six assists on perfectly timed and placed passes.

2. Kolten Fischer, Blake
The senior midfielder scored three goals, including one worthy of a YouTube clip early in the second half in which he dodged, darted, wound and wove through and around several Breck defenders before unloading a close-range shot that found the goal.

3. Jack O'Connor, Breck
The freshman attackman, who typifies the Mustangs' youthful lineup, scored twice. That's a star-worthy accomplishment when playing against two of the state's top goaltenders in Bears starter Lowell Fluke and his second-half replacement, Grant Dressen.

Been here, done this
Breck coach Hank Marotske, who built Blake into a perennial state power before departing to take a job on East Coast, is in his first year guiding the Mustangs, who dropped to 2-7 after Thursday's loss. "Our first year (at Blake), we went 1-9. We never lost more than two or three games after that." By Marotske's estimation, it will take about four years to elevate Breck's program to a championship level, to where Blake is now. "I think we will be there," Marotske said. "We have the formula, we have the blueprint. We're just going to keep holding true to it and make it happen."

Not looking ahead
While Blake's May 20 matchup with Benilde-St. Margaret's looms as, potentially, the Game of the Season, the Bears' rugged schedule doesn't afford them the opportunity to spend weeks daydreaming about what projects to be a matchup between the state's No. 1 and 2 teams. "We have a couple of tough games between now and then," Blake junior George Ordway said. The Bears play high-quality opponents in Eagan on May 11 and Holy Angels on May 13.

Time keeps on slipping
When Blake's lead hit 12 goals in the second half, a "mercy rule" went into effect that calls for the clock to continue to run during game stoppages. Much of the final quarter was played with a running clock. "We liked that," Ordway said. "Get us home early."