Good enough to impress the computer that spits out the laxpower.com rankings. That website had the Blaze as the third-best high school team in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the West Side Lacrosse state rankings, which are done by humans, had four Lake Conference teams in the top 10 -but Burnsville wasn't one of them.

The truth might be somewhere in the middle, and for now that's fine with Burnsville coach Jesse Schelitzche. The Blaze opened its season last week by defeating Lake Conference opponents Chaska-Chanhassen and Bloomington Jefferson by a combined 23-6.

"It's still early, but we're playing well as a team," Schelitzche said after Burnsville's 11-4 victory over Bloomington Jefferson on Saturday, April 17. "We have a lot of guys with varsity experience, and our players are really excited about this year."

Burnsville is in its third season as a varsity team after being promoted from club status. The pieces could be in place for this to be the Blaze's best team.

As potent as the Blaze's attack was in the first two games, the team might be even better at preventing goals, thanks to a veteran group on defense .

"We think that's going to be our strength," Schelitzche said. "All three of our starters [senior captain Griff Bartzen and juniors Colin Schroeder and Scott Wheeler] are back. Those are three guys who have seen a lot of playing time on varsity."

Juniors Eddie Wittchow, Neal Pester and Bohdi Engum scored two goals each in Burnsville's season-opening 12-2 victory over Chaska-Chanhassen on April 15. Engum and Jace Childs, another junior, were the Blaze's leading scorers in 2009.

Junior Dylan Delaney, moved from attack to midfield this year, is another key returnee for the Blaze.

Senior midfielder Kyle Eckert and senior goalie Cameron Flakne are captains along with Bartzen.

The Jefferson game started a stretch of seven consecutive home games for the Blaze. The upcoming schedule includes Osseo at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 22, and Rosemount at 3 p.m. Saturday, April 24.

Burnsville will have a chance to get a fast start before the most difficult part of its schedule kicks in. Three of the Blaze's last four games will be against Eagan, Eden Prairie and Eastview, possibly the Lake Conference's three strongest teams.

By the time Burnsville faces the Lake powers, Schelitzche said he believes the team will be ready.

"Eagan will be a big game for us," the coach said. "We lost to them [12-9] in the playoffs last year. They have a lot of players back, too.

"Eastview was second in the state tournament last year and Eden Prairie is a very strong team. It will be interesting to see how we do, but I think this year we have a team that can compete with them."