Secrets? There aren’t many come playoff time.

Especially not between Apple Valley and Rosemount, neighboring Lake Conference teams that battled each other into double overtime during the regular season and have a history of playing hotly contested games.

The Eagles and Irish are so familiar with each other they can tell you every last detail about their rival, right down to the brand of laundry detergent the other uses to get rid of those pesky grass stains.

So it was that the teams’ coaches might just as well have performed an e-mail exchange of their game plans heading into their Friday, May 28, Section 3 quarterfinal matchup.

For Apple Valley: “Harness Rosemount sophomore Matt Weller in a straightjacket and, at the very least, put sidekick Jake Mortenson in hand and leg cuffs.

For Rosemount: “Deny senior Chris Fischer the ball, room to run, the very air he needs to breathe.”

With both teams’ top scorers under heavy surveillance, it was clear someone else was going to have to shoulder the bulk of the scoring burden.

But who?

Scoring from every possible angle, scoring while falling, scoring while leaping into the air, scoring from a sharp angle, scoring one-handed, even, was Apple Valley senior attackman Lucas Graves. He finished with five goals in the No. 4-seeded Eagles’ 14-8 victory that advances them to a section semifinal against top-seeded Eastview on Wednesday, June 2.

“He had some pretty nice one-handed goals today,” Apple Valley senior goaltender David Louis said. “He’s probably one of our best finishers and single dodgers on the team, coming from behind the net and, really, anywhere.”

Graves, who scored 15 goals in 13 regular season games, almost has matched that total with 11 goals in two playoff games.

“I think he is just finally coming into his own, realizing that he can go to the net by himself, that he doesn’t necessarily have to wait for a cut or a pick or anything like that,” Apple Valley coach Ben Uzlik said about Graves, who didn’t get his first goal until the season’s sixth game. “He is finally just finishing his opportunities.

And he developed a left hand, too.”

Graves scored goals 26 seconds apart in the second quarter to put Apple Valley (11-4) ahead 5-2. The Eagles would score four more unanswered goals before No. 5-seeded Rosemount (10-5) finally ended the run early in the third quarter.

The Irish had numerous excellent scoring chances in the third quarter but Louis made at least three stellar saves on point-blank shots.

“He makes those awesome saves every game,” Graves said. “The man is a monster in there. He stands on his head every game for us.”

Turns out, Louis’ work in practice has benefited the Eagles, too. At least it has for Graves, who finds scoring to be much easier in games than it is in practice.

“I can’t score against Louis in practice, but when we come out here I can usually put them away,” Graves said.

Meanwhile Fischer (who had 53 points in the regular season) and Weller (40 points) didn’t have horrible afternoons. Far from it. Each finished with three goals, in effect neutralizing each other.

“They knew that we would mark up on (Fischer), so someone else had to step up, just like someone else had to step up on for us,” Rosemount coach Lance Kuehn said. “And their No. 11 (Graves) did.”

1. Lucas Graves, Apple Valley
The senior attackman scored five goals, with each one coming in increasingly spectacular fashion. Graves put the cherry on top of his performance in the fourth quarter with a curl from behind the net that ended with a one-handed shot for a jaw-dropping goal. He now has 11 goals in two playoff games after scoring 15 in the entire regular season.

2. David Louis, Apple Valley
Goaltenders typically don't get a lot of love in the Three Stars, but the Eagles' senior (pictured below) was solid throughout and spectacular when he needed to be in the second half as Rosemount fought furiously to get back into the game.

3. Matt Weller, Rosemount
The sophomore attackman scored three goals despite wearing, in effect, a blaze orange jersey that had Apple Valley defenders swarming to him all game. Weller scored 34 regular season goals to lead the Irish.