Blake freshman Lydia Sutton is known for her unparalleled speed and quickness.

Stamina? Not so much.

With the No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Blake clinging to a two-goal lead over upset-minded Edina, Sutton was tasked with a simple assignment: “Run with the ball.”

“It was my job to run it around the field so they couldn’t score,” Sutton said after the Bears (14-0) beat the Hornets 12-10 on Thursday, June 2, at Roseville High School. “I’ve done that before, but not for over a minute, that was a little long.

“Probably the longest minute I’ve ever had in a lacrosse game.”

Edina (10-5), which had lost to Blake 14-5 during the regular season, erupted for a flurry of second-half goals to tie the score at 8 with about 14 minutes remaining. Blake, the defending state champion, found itself in an unusually precarious position.

“The reason I love coaching these kids is they always play with heart,” Bears coach Laura Mark said. “I knew that when it got tied, they would reach down and pull it out.”

Sure enough, the Bears answered with two quick goals and never lost the lead. Senior Meghan Bauer’s fourth goal came in the closing minutes and helped Blake clinch the victory.

It wasn't quie that easy. Even though the Bears had regained the lead, Mark was far from feeling comfortable with it.

“Edina was doing such an incredible job on the draw control that we literally could not win the draw from Paige Jones,” Mark said. “I figured that once we had the ball and enough elapsed time that we just couldn’t give it up.”

Enter Sutton.

“Lydia is very speedy and she has great ball control skills,” Mark said about her clock-killing weapon. “In the game of girls lacrosse you don’t have a shot clock. As a last resort, it seemed like a good option.”

Sutton, who scored four goals, ran a couple laps around Edina’s end of the field, harassed by multiple Hornets every step of the way. When the final horn sounded, the Bears raced to the far end of the field to celebrate. All of them but Sutton, who instead crouched with her head hanging above her knees.

“This was definitely one of the toughest games we’ve had,” Sutton said.