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Prior Lake girls ride first half explosion past Apple Valley for Section 6 crown

By Drew Cove, SportsEngine, 06/08/17, 6:00AM CDT

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The Lakers scored 11 of their 12 total goals in the first half.


Goalie Claire Hagen (64) and Prior Lake kept Apple Valley's Reagan Roelofs (13) mostly in check in the first half in building an 11-3 lead, then withstood a second-half rally to win 12-9 in the Class 4A Section 6 final. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngin


Eighth grader Peyton Bloedow scored three first-half goals as Prior Lake beat Apple Valley in the Class 4A Section 6 girls lacrosse championship. Photo by Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine

Early game offense and late game defensive stops were the key for Prior Lake.

Prior Lake defeated Apple Valley 12-9 Thursday evening at Burnsville High School for the Section 6 girls’ lacrosse championship.
 
“We had a lot of energy, our girls were excited,” said Prior Lake head coach Ali Minelli-Fenstermacher. “But you can’t take any team lightly, especially Apple Valley.”
 
The offense was key early, as The Lakers, ranked No. 2 in the coaches’ poll, flew out of the gates and found themselves up 11-3 after the first half.
 
Eighth-grader Payton Bloedow stole the show late in the first half, scoring the eighth, tenth, and twelfth goals, a hat trick, for Prior Lake. Her second goal of the night proved to seal the deal for the Lakers.
 
Bloedow isn’t the only part of the family that dominated on the field Thursday, as her brother, Luke, scored the game-winning goal for the Prior Lake boys’ 6-5 win over Eastview on the same field just two hours before the girls’ match.
 
The Bloedow family is ingrained into Prior Lake lacrosse.
 
Payton’s older sister, Alexa, played for the Lakers until her graduation in 2016, not to mention her older brother Luke, who is a sophomore, and Payton, who helped send her team to state.
 
While the score was lopsided early after the first half, the Eagles came back.
 
“We said ‘if we’re going to go down, we have to go down fighting,’” said Apple Valley head coach Alex Ross. “We’re not going to just let them take it easily from us, and we said ‘why not just go completely different [in the] second half.’ … A little chaos to the field, and that little chaos led to some good things.”
 
No. 3 Apple Valley had two supremely dominant offensive players in the regular season, juniors Reagan Roelofs and Molly Moynihan.
 
Roelofs had five goals and an assist in the game, and Moynihan had three goals, and each player helping surmount the potential comeback, which came as close as three goals with 1:42 left in the game.
 
Lakers’ goaltender Claire Hagen defended the attack from the Eagles. She made plenty of tough saves, especially in the second half, to help send her team to state.
 
“She made some huge saves,” Minelli-Fenstermacher said. “[Also], a few players on the field stepped it up and started taking control of the ball again.”
 
Before the game turned into a scoring bonanza, one of the younger stars for the Lakers, freshman Josie Kropp, made the first appearance on the scoresheet.
 
“[Scoring first] was really fulfilling,” Kropp said. “To get the ball rolling for our team and really pump up the intensity and to come out strong.”
 
Kropp wasn’t done with her opening tally, she also scored the final goal for the Lakers in the 12-9 victory.
 
“It feels really surreal,” Kropp stated. “Last year I was an eighth grader, and I didn’t play much, but now that I am a freshman and I’m on the team, it’s just like ‘wow, I am actually a part of this.’”
 

First Report

After the first half, there was no looking back for Prior Lake. The Lakers won the Section 6 girls’ lacrosse championship Thursday night at Burnsville High School over Apple Valley, ranked No. 3 in the state coaches' poll, 12-9.

After 11 goals in the first half, and three from forward Payton Bloedow, the Lakers (15-1-1) had the championship in sight.

The game wasn’t without drama, though, with a four-goal surge from the Eagles (14-2-0) to bring the game to within five goals at 11-7.

The No. 2 Lakers were not only supported from the offensive firepower of two goals from Lexi Peer and Josie Kropp, and three goals from Payton Bloedow, but also some key saves by goaltender Claire Hagen early in the second half.

With the victory Thursday, Prior Lake won Section 6 for the third time in as many years.

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