Wednesday night’s Section 7 quarterfinal matchup between Centennial and Spring Lake Park was a flashback to last year, when the same teams met in the same game.

This time, the result was different.

The fourth-seeded Panthers defeated the fifth-seeded Cougars 11-7 behind four goals from senior attackman Drew Nelson and three from junior midfielder Daniel Chlebeck.

This victory had its roots in Spring Lake Park’s 9-7 loss to Centennial last year. In the offseason, the Panthers began transforming their team from the top down.

Vernon Letourneau took over as head coach of the boys’ program after coaching Spring Lake Park’s girls program last year. The transition was difficult for some players.

“He’s a very strict guy,” Chlebeck said. “I wasn’t use to the vocal, loud voice of him.”

Letourneau, who has experience coaching the University of Minnesota-Duluth women's lacrosse team, didn’t deny that he pays attention to detail. 

“I can tell you that what we’ve been working at all year is discipline, possessing the ball better and being more precise on defense,” he said.

A lack of precision on defense doomed the Panthers in their 2014 playoff loss, and Macabe Stariha said it was a focus heading into this rematch with the Cougars (5-9) - a team they defeated 13-11 in the regular season.

The senior attackman also said Spring Lake Park’s intensity is up, making the Panthers (6-8) an overall better team. 

Stressing the team ideal has been part of Letourneau’s coaching plan, a fact reflected in the stats. Letourneau said some players such as Nelson, who finished with 30 goals last year, have had their goal totals go down while seeing their assist totals go up.

“Setting up our teammates for success, it’s part of the design,” said Letourneau, who also played lacrosse for the Bulldogs and coached at Holy Angels before stints heading up several teams in Germany. 

Having several hockey players on the roster has also helped enhance Spring Lake Park’s team dynamic because there is a natural blend of skills between the sports, Letourneau said.

Nelson agreed, saying handling a stick in lacrosse is similar to handling a hockey stick.

Nelson was a member of the Panthers’ hockey team that made its first state tournament appearance in March. He said making the trip to the Xcel Energy Center and playing in the Class A tournament helped prepare him and his lacrosse team for a successful season.

“I feel like with hockey state tournament and all the excitement, it rolled right into lacrosse and we’re ready to go,” Nelson said. 

He wants to end his high school lacrosse career with a section championship, but undefeated and top-seeded Champlin Park stands in the way.

“We’re going to need to be perfect,” Stariha said. “It’s going to be tough, but we can do it.”

Chlebeck said the changes his team made entering this year has him feeling more confident about going up against the Rebels (13-0)

“We’re just a completely different team and playing them (Champlin Park) again, I’m feeling much better about it,” Chlebeck said. 

Drew Nelson had four goals to lead fifth-seeded Spring Lake Park over fourth-seeded Centennial 11-7 in a Section 7 quarterfinal game at Centennial High School on Wednesday night.

Daniel Chlebeck finished with three goals for the Panthers (6-8). 

Nelson got off to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first quarter to help Spring Lake Park build a 3-0 lead. Luke Kranz kept the Panthers from pulling away, tallying back-to-back goals early in the second to bring the Cougars (5-9) to within one.

Spring Lake Park, however, took a 5-3 lead into halftime with goals from Chlebeck and Nick Robinson.

The Panthers seemed to take control of the game with four goals in the third quarter. Nelson netted a goal with less than a minute remaining to record the hat track and give Spring Lake Park a 9-4 edge on the scoreboard.

But Centennial rallied in the fourth, cutting the deficit to three with goals from Blake Manning and Zach Schrantz just 40 seconds apart. 

After Chlebeck notched his third goal, Kranz answered with his third goal to score the hat trick and make the game 10-7 with four minutes to play. 

Nelson’s fourth goal of the game came 30 seconds later and wrapped up the victory for the Panthers, who face top-seeded Champlin Park in the semifinals on Friday.

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