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By Loren Nelson, editor, 06/14/10, 10:40AM CDT

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State Tournament Preview: Best of MBSLA set for semifinal showdowns

St. Paul (12-0) is the state's only undefeated team still playing and, by virtue of regular season victories over St. Louis Park and Orono, has to be considered the tournament favorite.

The Celts feature Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association all-state selections at attack (Kieran Gallagher), defense (Elliot Trejo) and in goal (Keenan Lillyquist). They also have the MBSLA's Coach of the Year in Ben Mooney.

This is not a particularly punishing team in terms of physical play, but few teams can match St. Paul's speed and quickness.

Defending state champion Orono (12-2) lost just once to MBSLA competition, and that was a 10-9 setback to St. Paul on April 3. The Spartans have won seven straight and haven't allowed more than five goals in their last six games.

The Spartans' only other loss this season was MSHSL power Maple Grove 13-5 on April 23. That loss snapped Orono's 15-game win streak.

The 2008 MBSLA champion, St. Louis Park (15-3) reached the MBSLA title game last season when it lost to Orono. The Orioles lost to St. Paul 10-9 in overtime in a thrilling back-and-forth affair on May 19.

St. Louis Park's other two losses this season have come against Beausejour, Manitoba, during a tournament in Grand Rapids and to Shattuck-St. Mary's, which did not enter the MBSLA playoffs because of the school's early spring closing date.

Playing in the weakest of the MBSLA's four conferences (Varsity North), St. Cloud South (15-2) quietly fashioned one of the state's best seasons.

The Tigers' two losses came against MontiQuois on April 23 and to Beausejour, Manitoba, at a tournament in Grand Rapids in early May. No team allowed fewer goals per game (3.61) this season than St. Cloud South thanks in part to the work of all-state long-stick midfielder Merek Regan.

Juniors Art Elmer (pictured at right) and all-state selection Max Bergeron give St. Louis Park the highest scoring tandem in the state. The tall, powerful Elmer has 34 goals while the 5-foot-7 Bergeron has a state-best 52. Elmer and Bergeron have combined for 119 points.

Orono's Bo Maki, another all-state selection, finished second in the state in scoreing during the regular season with 61 points, including 44 goals. The senior attackman has scored at least a hat trick in all but one of the Spartans' 15 games.

Junior Joe Graphenteen had developed into a premier defensive stopper for Orono, as the junior usually draws the toughest one-on-one assigments. Graphenteen was named to the MBSLA's 12-member all-state team as a defenseman.

All-state attackman Kieran Gallagher, a senior, has scored his 40 goals in just nine games. Gallagher's quickness and shooting skills make him all but impossible to defend, although Orono did limit him to one goal in the teams' May 3 meeting.

All-state selections Elliot Trejo, a senior defenseman, and Keenan Lillyquist, a senior goaltender, anchor a Celts' defense that allowed just 46 goals in 10 regular season games.

St. Cloud South long-stick midfielder Merek Regan, a junior, received honorable mention all-state recognition for a Tigers team that had allowed three goals in its previous four games before emerging with a thrilling 10-9 state tournament quarterfinal triumph over Hastings on June 13.

Senior Chris Ampe and sophomore Zach Affeldt provide plenty of firepower for the Tigers, as they have combined for 63 goals.

Leading Scorers Yr. G A Pts
Bo Maki Sr. 49 18 67
Max Bergeron Jr. 52 12 64
Kieran Gallagher Sr. 40 19 59
Art Elmer Jr. 34 21 55
Zach Affeldt So. 25 27 52
Chris Ampe Sr. 39 8 47
Jimmy Paenkhay Jr. 19 21 40
Daniel Stephenson Sr. 23 18 41
Derek Alford Jr. 13 23 36
Connor Shandley Jr. 25 10 35

Orono's Bo Maki has scored 10 goals in the Spartans' two playoff games. Photo by Helen Nelson

3 -- Teams (Hopkins, Roseville, Blake) that have repeated as MBSLA state champions. Orono, last year's champion, can be the fourth to achieve the feat.

23 -- Days Orono went between playing completed games in May as rainy, stormy weather wreaked havoc with the Spartans' schedule.

23 -- Days between St. Paul closing the regular season with a 14-5 victory over Eden Prairie and its state semifinal game against St. Louis Park. Because of a forfeit win over St. Cloud North in the state tournament quarterfinals (North faced a shortage of players), the Celts have played just one game in that stretch, a 16-2 triumph over Henry Sibley on June 11 in the Varsity East Conference playoffs.

12 -- Players named to the MBSLA's all-state team.

8 -- All-state players competing in the final four of the MBSLA state tournament.


St. Paul senior Kieran Gallagher ranks among the state's top goal scorers. Photo by Helen Nelson

Hub Prediction

Team Record
  Orono 12-2

The MSBLA has a pattern of producing repeat champions every three years, which means its Orono's turn to keep the league's traveling trophy for another season.

Bracket Buster

Team Record
  St. Louis Park 15-3

St. Louis Park lost to St. Paul in the regular season and to Orono in last year's state title game, but this is a team that combines explosive scoring with gritty defense -- a winning combination in the playoffs. If the Orioles get great goaltending they just might be the team celebrating wildly come Saturday night.

Road to the Semifinals

Past Champions

2009 -- Orono
2008 -- St. Louis Park
2007 -- White Bear Lake
2006 -- Blake
2005 -- Blake
2004 -- Eden Prairie
2003 -- Bloomington Jefferson
2002 -- Roseville
2001 -- Roseville
2000 -- Bloomington Jefferson
1999 -- Robbinsdale Cooper
1998 -- Hopkins
1997 -- Hopkins

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