Lance Kuehn was a hockey player from Farmington. He knew he wasn’t going to play the sport he loved at St. Olaf, so when the lacrosse team started recruiting players, he gave it a shot. He became a three-year starting goaltender and his new passion took off from there.

“I learned a lot about the game and met a lot of great people,” Kuehn said.

After graduating, Kuehn took a teaching job in Lakeville and coached the girls’ lacrosse team for one year before both a chemistry teaching position and lacrosse head coaching vacancy opened up at Rosemount. He jumped at the opportunity, as it was the Irish’s inaugural year under the Minnesota State High School League banner.

“It was nice to be able to start the team from scratch,” said Kuehn, who began the program five years ago. Since then, it’s gone from scratch ingredients to a gourmet winning feast.

Kuehn has gone to numerous coaching conferences and picked the brains of elite national college coaches to help get his program started. He has summer, fall and individual camps going. He invites youth players to practice with the high school team. The city’s youngest group — kindergarten through second grade — plays for free. Kuehn has also purchased equipment he can rent out to kids who want to try it out.

“Everything that every youth player has done here is something that I’ve developed for them,” Kuehn said.

Now it’s time to cash in. In its first year, the Irish had 70 boys who didn’t know much about lacrosse. They didn’t win a game that season. Slowly, under Kuehn’s tutelage and diligence, Rosemount started winning — four wins in its second season, seven in its third, then 10. This year, the Irish started 8-0 before Monday’s loss to Eagan.

They are doing it with no seniors. Junior Matt Weller has 32 goals and 11 assists. Weller started playing box lacrosse in sixth grade and has seen Rosemount’s program grow first-hand.

“I couldn’t even cradle the first four games I ever played,” said Weller, who is now among the league leaders in goals, along with teammate Grant Vanoverbeke. “[I] didn’t score a goal all year until the last game, and then I scored three. Then I just started scoring.”

Vanoverbeke, a sophomore, has tallied 32 goals. Freshman Carter Yepsen has 15 goals and 11 assists to make up the top three attackers.

Midfielders Jake Mortenson and Logan Lindberg use speed to lead the Irish’s lethal fast breaks and transition game, giving Kuehn a dangerous set of tools.

“Every team has very, very good players — one or two you have to mark up,” Kuehn said. “But my starting lineup, I have five incredible players that can all score. There are not many teams that can stop five guys.”

With Jake O’Malley and Rosemount football standout linebacker Matt Larson on defense, opposing teams will have a tough time scoring.

Even with the tough loss to Eagan, Rosemount is in good position to pick up its first conference title. This young group has high aspirations.

“We’re all pushing for the state title, that’s our main goal,” Weller said. “I just think the intensity is there. The skill level is definitely there. Quickness and speed — we’re not that big of a team but we can outrun you.”