Quantcast
skip navigation

It's one for all for Eagan

By Loren Nelson, Editor, 06/04/10, 12:14PM CDT

Share

Hersman's brilliant all-around play paves way for Wildcats' rout of Apple Valley

Numbers might not lie, but when it comes to Will Hersman, they don’t tell the whole truth, either.

Far from it.

Hersman had a goal and an assist in Eagan’s 10-4 romp past Apple Valley on Friday, June 4, in the Section 3 final at Burnsville High School.

By lacrosse standards, those are pedestrian point totals.

Take a closer look at what Hersman brings to the Wildcats, though, and you see he’s involved in, well, everything.

“This kid here is amazing,” Eagan coach Bob Felter said about his senior midfielder. “I would not trade him for anyone in the world.

“He takes 65 percent of my face offs on top of doing all the other dirty work. He’s got over 40 goals, he sees the field better than anybody. He’s a phenomenal player.”

Opposing coaches know all this, of course.

On Friday, with Eagan (12-4) embarking on a man-up opportunity, Apple Valley (12-5) paid the highest compliment to Hersman by locking a player on him. With Hersman alertly moving behind the Eagles’ goal, his shadow tagging along behind, the Wildcats’ 6-on-5 advantage, in effect, became a 5-on-4 edge.

Eagan scored on that man-up opportunity. Hersman was not credited with an assist.

With opposing players drawn to Hersman like ants to watermelon, the rest of the Wildcats are afforded extra room to roam. Players such as Kyle Harren and Chris Bowen know how to take advantage. They each had a hat trick against the Eagles.

“We’ve been waiting for this for so long, it’s just amazing,” said Harren, a senior who has suffered the heartache of reaching the section finals in each of the previous two seasons, only to lose to Eastview each time. “We’ve worked so hard for this.”

Six players scored for the Wildcats. That’s the kind of balance Felter has insisted they have all season.

“I told the guys at the beginning of the year, ‘To go to state, you need six guys in double digits (in scoring),' ” Felter said. “You can’t have two guys. (Apple Valley) has two guys, and there’s nothing wrong with that, they’re fine, they’re good guys and that’s why they’ve been winning.”

Felter’s point is well taken. Two players carrying the bulk of the scoring load? That will only take you so far.

For Apple Valley, top playoff scorers Chris Fischer and Lucas Graves clearly hit the wall after three straight brilliant section playoff performances. In the second half, both Fischer and Graves were involved in heated exchanges with both the officials and their coaches.

The final horn had sounded, and still Graves was receiving unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Both he and Fischer were banished to the Eagles bench for the postgame awards ceremonies.

“These guys gave us a pretty good whuppin’ in the regular season (Eagan won 14-6 on May 14), and I think our team just saw that as, ‘Ah, well, we got beat last time we’re probably going to get beat today,’ Apple Valley coach Ben Uzlik said.

“I think they were beat before they even got started.”

While the Eagles’ extra-curricular activities were producing a downpour of yellow flags, the Wildcats made a point of avoiding harm’s way.

“(Felter) was telling us to watch the show, but don’t become a part of it,” Harren said. “We were just watching them do their thing. We were staying calm and collected.”

And then, when it was all over, the Wildcats went bonkers. They gave Felter a Gatorade bucket soaking, then whooped it up again when they received their section championship trophy

Hersman, of course, was at the center of it all.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “It just feels amazing.”

Loren Nelson

Loren Nelson

MN Lax Hub Managing Editor

Phone: 612-379-1030 (ext. 126)

Statistics, summary

Photo Gallery

Three Stars

1. Will Hersman, Eagan
Big, strong, fast, smart (pick an adjective, any adjective), Hersman didn't dominate the stat sheet (he had a goal and an assist) but does all the dirty work, including taking and winning face-offs, that allows his teammates to shine. 

2. Chris Bowen, Eagan
The senior attackman scored three goals and set up two more as he played a central role in numerous dizzying Wildcats passing plays.

3. David Louis, Apple Valley
The score could have been much, much more lopsided if not for Apple Valley's senior goaltender, who made all manner of saves look routine and, by the fourth quarter, was running the ball three-quarters the length of the field in an effort to spark the Eagles' offense.

How they've fared

Regular Season

Section 3 Playoffs

Regular Season

Section 3 Playoffs

Regular SEASON LEADERS

Spotlight Game Coverage

Most Popular