In 2021, Lakeville North lost five of its first eight games before catching a spark of magic and riding a wave of excitement into the boys lacrosse state tournament, where the Panthers came within an overtime goal of reaching the championship game.

A group of young Panthers players, many of them eighth-graders playing on the prep team, followed the varsity closely and inherited a taste for success. Many of those young players got their chance last season, but the Panthers came up short and failed to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2013. 

The season-ending loss only stoked the young Panthers’ competitiveness. And it showed on Tuesday night at Lakeville North as the Panthers (14-2) bested an upset-minded Farmington squad 11-9 to win the Section 1 championship and get their own shot at winning the school’s first state boys lacrosse championship.

Twins Blake and Carson Piscitiello are two of those former prep squad standouts who played a big role both in the team’s regular-season success and Tuesday’s section championship victory. Blake had three goals and an assist and now has a school-record 62 goals this season. Carson had three goals and four assists and now has a school-record 52 assists this season. Lane Johnson, another sophomore and member of the 2021 prep team, scored his 41st goal of the season and already is closing in on the 100-point plateau both Blake and Carson Piscitiello already have reached.

Quinn Power, a freshman on the 2021 team that placed third in the state tournament, had two goals and an assist. Austin Winship had two goals and Leo Piscitiello added another.

Farmington, which lost 16-6 to North on May 19, scored the game’s first four goals and then scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter while rallying back to tie the game at 8-8 with 4:15 left to play. The teams traded goals before Lane Johnson scored with 88 seconds left and Carson Piscitiello added a clinching goal 20 seconds later.

Luke Coolidge and Henry Ulrick each scored three goals for the Tigers, last season's section champion. Tommy Lund, AJ Vinar and Wyatt Ulrick also scored goals while Tate Rusnasko and Jack Rosa each added two assists.