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Title Time for Number 1 Lakers

By Tom Schardin, 05/20/15, 12:15PM CDT

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The Prior Lake boys lacrosse team completed the perfect South Suburban Conference season May 19.

Can the No. 1-ranked Lakers now finish off the regular season unbeaten?

They'll have to if they want to the No. 1 seed in Section 3, since second-ranked Bloomington Jefferson (12-0) is also unbeaten.

Prior Lake (12-0 overall) dominated Lakeville South defensively with a 5-2 home win to finish 9-0 in the conference. Senior Cullen Sowder had three of the Lakers' five goals.

It's the first SSC title for the Lakers.

“I’ve been with these seniors the whole way through,” Lakers coach Chris Fleck told the Minnesota Lacrosse Hub. “They’ve been such a great class for this program. This senior class will always be really special to me.”

Prior Lake's final regular season game is May 22 at home versus East Ridge at 6 p.m. The game was originally set for May 16, but lightning postponed it.

Section 3 seeds come out May 23 and will be available at www.mshsl.org. Fourth-ranked Rosemount (10-2) is expected to be the No. 3 seed.

Other teams in the field: Eagan (6-6), Eastview (5-7), Apple Valley (4-7), Bloomington Kennedy (8-3), Hastings (6-5) and Burnsville (1-12).

Section quarterfinal play starts May 29 with the semifinals June 2 and the title game June 4 on the Lakers' home field at 5:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, in beating Lakeville South, the Lakers' five goals were a season low. The team has been in double digits in the 11 other games, so Prior Lake showed it can win a slowed-down game.

“It was a little weird,” Lakers senior Conner Anderson told the Minnesota Lacrosse Hub. “Their defense was really good. We just had to adjust, hold the ball longer and not make bad decisions."

Anderson finished with a goal, as did junior Ben Ward. Senior Taylor Kropp, junior Matt Denman and sophomore Carter Collins each had an assist.

Junior Noah Orham made his 12th straight start in goal for the Lakers. Prior Lake led 3-1 at the break and was up 4-2 after three quarters.

Sowder's three goals give him a team-best 30 on the season, followed by Ward (27), Collins (26) and Anderson (24). Kropp has a team-best 23 assists, while Denman has 21 to go along with their 13 and 12 goals, respectively.

The stout Prior Lake defense in front of Orham has been led by seniors Brad Walton and Carson Howells, juniors Danny Jury and Pierce Brackett and ninth-grader Theo Smith.

To see more photos of the Lakers-Lakeville South game, go to Scoreboard's Facebook page: https://business.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1017712518254098.1073742440.197190936972931&type=3&business_id=718207758255971.