Photo Gallery: Mahtomedi vs. Wayzata
As goalie on Mahtomedi’s hockey team, Josh Campbell has largely been on the other end of odd bounces, trying to make a save. On the lacrosse field at Wayzata High School Saturday, a tipped shot played in his favor.
The Alabama-Huntsville lacrosse commit caught a pass from Timmy Lindquist, planted his foot and fired a shot that bounced off Matthew Maybury’s stick and into to the back of the net with 41 seconds left in overtime.
“It’s hard for a goalie to know off a tip where the ball is going to go. This time we came out on top because of ball luck and hopefully we can improve on it,” Campbell said of his third goal of the game, which dealt the Trojans their first loss of the season in a 14-13 Zephyrs victory.
“That guy is an animal out there on defense,” Lindquist said of Campbell, a midfielder. “I only play the offensive field — I can’t imagine having to do both and doing it at his level — so it’s phenomenal he got that.”
Mahtomedi came back from a three-goal deficit in the final quarter to avenge a 9-8 overtime loss the Trojans in last year’s third-place game at the state tournament. The Zephyrs had lost to eventual state champion Eagan 12-11 in overtime prior to that to end up in the consolation game.
Mahtomedi's struggles to close out games hadn’t ended after an 11-10 overtime loss to Chanhassen to open its season on April 21. Coach Pete Moosbrugger acknowledged his team’s resilience early in the season and that Saturday’s win is another stepping stone to return to the state tourney.
“We spent our first week shoveling the stadium — so we basically played Chan(hassen) on a half day’s practice,” he said. “These guys have faced adversity — so we need to come back every series and chip away and let our talent take over.”
The Zephyrs jumped out to an early lead behind a trio of first-quarter goals by Lindquist. Sophomore faceoff specialist Colin Hagstrom won 6 of 7 draws in the opening quarter which gave Mahtomedi (3-1, 2-0) the liberty to execute its offense with ease. Hagstrom won a draw and scorched down the field for a goal of his own 16 seconds into the second quarter, and Campbell added a goal to give the Zephyrs a three-goal lead.
The Trojans (4-1, 3-0) battled back as Hofstra commit Dalton Seesz scored twice and added an assist on a six-goal run to close the half and take a three-goal lead.
As the game began to tighten in the final quarter, Lindquist, who finished with four goals and three assists, said he drew from his team’s past losses.
“You’d think an overtime loss wouldn’t be as bad as a blowout, but these overtime games are very powerful in motivating us for practicing harder,” he said. “When you can see you only needed one or two more plays to win the game, there’s added motivation out there.”
Lindquist assisted a pair of goals in the final five minutes of regulation and netted the tying goal with under two minutes remaining.
A cross-checking penalty put Mahtomedi on the man-advantage for the final two minutes of the first overtime session, which led to the Zephyrs possession and Campbell’s goal.
“Let’s be honest it was kind of a fluke goal, but that’s why you shoot in overtime,” Moosbrugger said, adding he was happy with the results but wants his team to remain motivated as they tinker with their lineup.
Wayzata coach Chad Herr felt mistakes were made on both sides but an early-season loss can help the Trojans refocus.
“It was two of the top teams in the state battling hard — a lot of mistakes on both sides early in the season. I think we might see these guys again,” he said.