The game was getting out of hand.

Not the score. Not the physical play.

The trash talking.

“There was one game against Cooper (in 2001) when there was some really, really high tensions,” St. Paul coach Ben Mooney said. “Some unfortunate incidences, some racial slurs.”

Mooney, whose team at the time was an eclectic mixture of Minneapolis and St. Paul players called RiverLax, knew something needed to be done.

And fast.

“Our kids, obviously, wanted to retaliate,” Mooney said. “I knew if they did, we would start getting penalties just like they were.”

“So I called a timeout. I said, ‘If you guys have to do something, if they are going to get under your skin, say anything but make sure it's something that won't result in a penalty. I figured since we were called RiverLax, let’s sound like the animals on the river.

“I said, ‘Let’s make quacking sounds like ducks on the river.’ ”

Out of that desperate situation, a tradition was born. Although Mooney’s team no longer includes Minneapolis players, each spring he still tells his new players the story about that game almost a decade ago.

Rest assured, when the Celts square off against St. Louis Park at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 17, in a Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association state semifinal at Orono High School, there will be non-stop quacking coming from the Celts sideline.

For a program that combines players from as many as 10 St. Paul-area schools, chemistry can be difficult to build when, during initial practice sessions, most of the players don’t even know each other’s names.

“I think it is a very unifying,” Mooney said about the quacking. “Some teams say it is very annoying, that we are doing it just to get under people’s skin, and I just laugh. I’ve had referees ask me why we are doing it. Really, you can’t say or do anything about it.”

Annoying?

"I know my fans hate it," St. Louis Park coach Kevin Reed said about the Celts' quacking. "I think the players on the team and myself, we kind of like it. It's kind of a cool thing that they do."

Whatever the Celts are doing, it’s working. They are 12-0 and own one-goal victories over both Orono and St. Louis Park, the two other teams among the state semifinalists considered most likely to be championship contenders.

St. Paul’s 10-9 overtime victory over St. Louis Park on May 19 was a thrilling matchup that saw Celts’ scoring star Kieran Gallagher score six goals and unlikely hero Benjamin Barnard score the winner – his first goal of the season – in overtime.

“St. Paul is the most consistent team in the tournament,” Reed said. “They played at a high level in all their games.”

Reed said stopping Gallagher will be a priority for the Orioles (15-3), but that slowing the Celts’ star is a more realistic goal.

“The Gallagher factor will not be removed,” Reed said. “The question is, ‘Will he be minimized?’ ”

St. Louis Park, meanwhile, employs a two-pronged attack featuring Max Bergeron and Art Elmer, juniors who have combined for 86 goals.

St. Louis Park and St. Paul met in last year's state semifinals, with the Orioles emerging with a one-goal triumph over the favored Celts.

No matter what happens in the rematch, for sure there will be one constant. The sound coming from the St. Paul sideline.

Quack.

Regular Season