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Title is a team thing for St. Louis Park

By Loren Nelson, Editor, 06/19/10, 1:15PM CDT

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Orioles beat Orono to win second MBSLA state crown, but they aren't done yet

In the early spring, when practices are long and dreams are big, it’s not uncommon for lacrosse players and coaches talk about the crazy things they might do if they win a state championship.

They get a little silly.

Then they make a pact.

Next thing you know, they are swimming in a pond with water quality that could best be described as sketchy.

At least that’s the way St. Louis Park drew up its final play – a team swim -- after beating Orono 10-6 on Saturday, June 19, at Concordia University in St. Paul to win its second Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association state championship in three years.

Parents were on the field snapping pictures and Orioles players were hugging girlfriends and kissing trophies when, at the height of euphoria, someone shouted, “Hey coach Kevin Reed, you just won the MBSLA state championship, what are you going to do next?”

Reed, the Orioles’ coach, didn’t hesitate with his response.

“I guess I’m going swimming at the middle school,” he said.

The middle school would be St. Louis Park Middle School, site of the Orioles’ home field. Adjacent to their field is a park and the pond in question.

“We have that pond next to our field, and everybody was like, ‘Ah man, this pond is questionable,' ” Reed said. “And somebody was like, ‘Well, if we win the championship, we’ve got to go swimming in it.’

“So we all agreed that would be a good thing.”

Reed recounted the story with only a hint of regret.

For a team that plans inspirational “themes” before games, shouts Latin words in unison when leaving its sideline huddles and forms a circle and sings – win or lose – after every game, there can be no such thing as too much bonding.

And if ever a team played as one, it was the Orioles in their triumph over the Spartans.

While junior midfielder and scoring sensation Art Elmer got a hat trick for the second time in an Orioles’ state championship victory, it was unlikely second-half goals by long-stick midfielders Sean Berens and Casey Villagrana that poured kerosene on the Orioles’ offense. Their goals came during a 7-1 St. Louis Park run that began with the Orioles clinging to a 3-2 second-quarter advantage.

Berens, St. Louis Park’s sophomore defensive stopper, had scored one goal all season entering the game. Villagrana, by comparison, was a world-class sniper. The junior had scored two goals all season coming into the championship.

“People that usually don’t score just ran it in and put it in the back of the net,” said junior Max Bergeron, the Orioles’ scoring leader who wasn’t bothered at all by being held off the scoreboard against the Spartans. “This feels amazing.”

Orono, which beat St. Louis Park in last year’s state title game, led 2-1 and seemed to be in position to at least match the Orioles goal for goal.

“We had too many breakdowns defensively,” Spartans coach Josh Scott said. “(Goaltender Weslee Kavanagh) had nine saves in the first half -- the first half. That just can’t happen.”

Max Schroeder and Bo Maki each scored twice for Orono (13-3). Meanwhile, St. Louis Park (17-3) had six players score, including two goals each from Max Sherno and Connor Shandley.

“It’s a team show,” said Elmer, who also scored a hat trick for the Orioles in their 2008 state championship victory. “We all just did our part.
 
“This feels pretty good. I can’t complain.”

As for that swim, well … “It’s going to be pretty nasty," Bergeron said, "but we just won state.

“We’ve got to do it.”

Loren Nelson

Loren Nelson

MN Lax Hub Managing Editor

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

Statistics, Summary

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Three Stars

1. Art Elmer, St. Louis Park
The junior midfielder was razor sharp on face-offs and with his shooting, as evidenced by his hat trick. Elmer is the definition of a "big game" player, as he also scored three goals in the 2008 state title game won by the Orioles.

2. Sean Berens, St. Louis Park
The sophomore long-stick midfielder not only played his usual suffocating defense, this time on Orono scoring whiz Bo Maki, but he also scored a third-quarter goal from long range that put the Orioles ahead 7-2. It was just his second goal of the season.

3. Joe Graphenteen, Orono
The junior defenseman held Max Bergeron, St. Louis Park's leading scorer and one of the state's most dangerous attackmen, without a goal.

Past Champions

2010 -- St. Louis Park
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

Road to the Final

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Regular Season

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