The 16th annual lacrosse state tournament starts Tuesday with the quarterfinals at Stillwater (boys) and White Bear Lake (girls). The two genders trade locations for Thursday's semifinals, and the championship games are held Saturday at Stillwater. Some matters to know:
New entrants and a pairing that some say is getting old mark the high school lacrosse state tournaments
The Edina and East Ridge girls and the Shakopee and Cretin-Derham Hall boys are in for the first time. Moorhead's assignment is called suspicious.
June 12, 2023 at 10:31PM
Welcome aboard
Four teams extended their seasons to their first state tournament appearance: East Ridge and Edina girls; Cretin-Derham Hall and Shakopee boys. At least two of those programs are expected to reach the semifinals based on their seed. Edina received No. 2 in the girls bracket, and Shakopee got No. 3 in the boys bracket. Meanwhile, East Ridge opens against Suburban East Conference rival and No. 3 girls seed Stillwater in a rematch of a 14-3 Ponies beatdown of the Raptors on April 26 at East Ridge. On the boys side, Shakopee opens against Chisago Lakes while Cretin-Derham Hall faces No. 2 seed Lakeville North. Both games mark the first meetings of the teams this season.
Wait, I know you
The unseeded Moorhead boys got paired with Benilde-St. Margaret's for a third consecutive state tournament quarterfinal — a matchup announced Saturday that led to several Twitter posts crying foul over the integrity of the Minnesota State High School League's "random draw" process for the teams not seeded 1-5. The Spuds lost the previous two meetings by a combined 36-5 against the eventual champion Red Knights. The teams played May 9, with BSM winning 16-1 at home. And speaking of BSM, its past two championships were secured by title-game victories against Prior Lake. In fact, those teams decided the past five title games. But not this year. Top seed BSM and No. 4 Prior Lake are on the same side of the bracket and would meet only in the semifinals. BSM beat the Lakers 15-9 on April 27.
Hall of Fame class named
Two former coaches and a current one were selected as the inaugural class of the Minnesota State High School Boys Lacrosse Coaches Association Hall of Fame: Bob Felter, Mark Hellenack and Bloomington Jefferson's Scott Cater. They were honored Sunday at the state banquet.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
