Lakeville North defenseman Brent Hauck chases down a ground ball near midfield as Chan's Patrick Mason pursues. Photo by Drew Herron
Lakeville North sophomore Brent Hauck is verbally committed to play Division I lacrosse at the U.S. Military Academy, but the defender is presently focused on what is in front of him.
To be more specific, Hauck is more concerned with who is in front of him.
In Saturday afternoon’s 7-4 win over Chanhassen, Hauck was tasked with shadowing Jadon Kerry, the Storm’s sophomore midfielder who’s committed to play at perennial NCAA power Duke after high school.
“They're summer club teammates, so he knows how Jadon plays,” Panthers coach Jeff Wright said.
“He’s our top (long stick midfielder) right now, so it was a pretty simple choice for us,” Wright said of the decision to have Hauck tail Kerry, who currently ranks second in the state with 18 goals in just five games.
Hauck held Kerry to just one goal in Saturday’s win, and has subsequently earned the right to remind Kerry of that fact when the two meet for their summer team’s practices.
“From this game to the club team, you’ve always got to chirp each other,” Hauck said with a laugh.
The familiarity of guarding a club teammate on the high school field brings its own set of complications, with each player having knowledge of the other’s tendencies.
“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Hauck said. “But at the same time, it’s super fun being able to play against him."
The double-edged sword trend is also prevalent in the Lakeville North program, which made its second consecutive state tournament appearance last year, but lost 11 seniors in the process.
Among those seniors were seven of ten starters, including Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year Roman Rohrbach.
Senior attacker Alec Jensen is taking advantage of the graduation departures, scoring six goals in four games this season, including two in Saturday’s victory.
“Alec has transitioned into that (scoring) role very well,” Wright said. “He’s our only lefty, and that’s a key position for us.”
Jensen said the Panthers took the graduation losses in stride, and that Lakeville North is fixated on filling those roles.
“All we can really do is step it up…take control of the game and do our absolute best," Jensen said.
Storm sophomore goaltender Parker Woolf fends off a scoring attempt by Lakeville's Luke Spanier in the first half. Photo by Drew Herron
First Report
Senior attacker Alec Jensen scored two goals for Lakeville North to lead the Panthers in a 7-4 win over Chanhassen on Saturday afternoon at Lakeville North High School.
Six players scored for the Panthers (5-1), who are ranked No. 10 in the latest state coaches poll. Midfielders Jake Mills, Dylan Valentini, Max Johnson, Luke Anderson and attacker Calvin Dahl joined Jensen on the scoresheet with one goal each.
Attackers Cole Grindberg and Connor Clark and midfielders Jadon Kerry and Sam Shifflett scored one goal apiece for the No. 5-ranked Storm (4-1).
