Just when it seemed safe to anoint Rosemount as the Sultan of the South, the best team lurking below the I-494 loop, Eagan decided to toss a long pole into the state boys lacrosse machinery.

The mayhem-causing Wildcats were downright giddy after handing No. 4 ranked Rosemount its first loss, 15-12, on Monday, May 9, at Eagan High School.

Turns out spraying graffiti on the state rankings and scribbling a mustache on the South Suburban Conference standings – figuratively speaking, of course -- can be a lot of fun.

“This is probably one of the best games I’ve ever played in in my life, to tell you the truth,” said Eagan junior midfielder Scott Pescheret, who scored four goals against the Irish. “I play in the summer, I play a lot of lacrosse, and this is right up there.

“I know a lot of the guys on their team, so this had a little bit of a personal touch for me.”

Eagan lost a stunning 18 seniors from last year’s state tournament squad, but had re-tooled well enough to post a 6-2 record and earn a No. 9 state ranking before playing the Irish.

The first half did not go well for the Wildcats. Their defense might as well have been a slotted spoon based on the ease in which the Irish filled the goal in the first half.

It didn’t help that Eagan suffered a painful self-inflicted wound in the opening quarter – defenseman Calvin Lamb was called for a 3-minute non-releasable illegal stick penalty and Rosemount scored three times during its ensuing man advantage.

Eagan managed to give itself mini-makeover during the 10-minute break before the second half, when it combined a suddenly airtight defense with its version of Rosemount’s machine-gun offense.

“That’s the way lacrosse is supposed to be played, up and down, up and down, baby,” Eagan coach Bob Felter said after the Wildcats outscored the Irish 5-0 in the third quarter and 7-2 in the second half. “We haven’t done that in a while.

“But we’ve got to work on some defensive stuff, for crying out loud.”

Rosemount’s Matt Weller scored five goals and teammate Grant Vanoverbeke added four. Just one of those combined nine goals came in the second half.
 
“Too many guys tried to do it individually and we were not working as a team,” Rosemount coach Lance Kuehn said about his team’s third-quarter slowdown. “It was just one guy trying to win it all for us.”

Eagan, meanwhile, was getting contributions from all over the field. Dan Bausman scored four goals for the Wildcats, Cullen Willox had three and teammates Max Elsenheimer and Connor Simpson added two each.

“We can’t just have one guy that puts it in all the time,” said Bausman, who played on Eagan’s junior varsity last season. “We have to spread it around.”

After Monday’s outcome, it appears the South Suburban is as balanced as the Wildcats’ scoring.

“I don’t think we’ll know (who the best team is) until the end of the season,” Bausman said.

1. Dan Bausman, Eagan
A junior attackman playing his first season on the varsity, Bausman scored the Wildcats’ first three goals – all in the first quarter. His fourth goal came in the final minute of the third quarter and proved to be the game winner, as it gave Eagan a 13-10 lead.

2. Matt Weller, Rosemount
A junior attackman, Weller scored five goals to push his season total to 32 this season, the third most in the state. Weller’s goal total is the same as teammate Grant Vanoverbeke, who scored four goals against the Wildcats.

3. Scott Pescheret, Eagan
A wizard on face-offs, Pescheret also has some serious offensive skills. He scored four goals and added an assists. Three of Pescheret’s goals came in the second half when the Wildcats outscored Rosemount 7-2.

Junior midfielder Scott Pescheret and junior attackman Dan Bausman each scored four goals as No. 9-ranked Eagan rallied from a four-goal second-quarter deficit to upset No. 4 Rosemount 15-12 on Monday, May 9, at Eagan High School.

The Wildcats’ victory stamps another question mark on the already tumultuous South Suburban Conference, which now has three teams (Rosemount, Eastview and Prior Lake) with one conference loss.

Eagan has lost twice in conference play. Five teams have three conference losses, including preseason favorites Burnsville and Apple Valley.

Rosemount was leading 2-1 early in the first quarter when Eagan junior defenseman Calvin Lamb was called for an illegal stick. The Irish scored three straight goals during the resulting 3-minute man-advantage to surge ahead 5-1.

Rosemount (8-1) also held leads of 7-3 and 9-5 in the second quarter before Eagan (7-2) began its comeback.

The Wildcats outscored Rosemount 3-1 to end the first half and 5-0 in the third quarter. The Irish scored their first goal of the second half with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter.

Matt Weller scored five goals and Grant Vanoverbeke had four to pace Rosemount.