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Perfect End Before Sections

By Tom Schardin, 05/26/17, 11:00AM CDT

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The Prior Lake girls lacrosse team had a perfect end to the regular season.

Not only did the No. 2-ranked Lakers cap off a second straight unbeaten season in the South Suburban Conference, but the team also knocked off perennial power Blake in a non-league home game May 22.

Prior Lake outscored the No. 4 Bears 9-3 in the second half en route to a 15-7 win. Blake beat the Lakers 12-10 in the state semifinals last year. The Bears have been one of the state's premier programs along with Eden Prairie.

Since 2007 when girls lacrosse became an officially sanctioned sport by the Minnesota State High School league, Eden Prairie and Blaze have been the only two schools to win state titles. Eden Prairie has won four times (2007, 2009, 2015 and 2016), while Blake has won six crowns (2007 and 2010 to 2014).

Those two programs have met in the title game every year but twice — 2013 and 2015. Prior Lake's only loss this spring is to top-ranked Eden Prairie (18-6).

The Lakers (12-1) followed the Blake win with an easy 19-7 home victory over Rosemount the next day to win the SSC title outright with a 9-0 mark. Prior Lake has won 18 straight SSC contests and 26 of its last 27 dating back to the 2015 season.

Prior Lake will be the No. 1 seed in Section 6 play, which starts June 2 with the quarterfinals at the site of the higher seed. Third-ranked Apple Valley (11-1) will be the No. 2 seed. Those two teams met in the title game last year with the Lakers winning 14-5 en route to a fourth-place finish at state.

Prior Lake also beat Apple Valley 9-7 in SSC play this spring.

Sixth-ranked Edina (8-5) will likely get the No. 3 seed, followed by Bloomington Jefferson (9-3), Bloomington Kennedy (7-4), Eastview (5-7), Burnsville (4-9), Minneapolis (5-7) and Holy Angels (3-8).

Semifinal play is June 6, while the title game is June 8 at a site still to be determined. The Lakers are seeking a third straight state berth. The team won the consolation title in 2015.

In beating Rosemount, senior Sarah Pierson led the Lakers with five goals and two assists. Prior Lake led 10-3 at the break.

Sophomore Jordan Anderson finished with three goals and two assists, while sophomore Lauren Wick had three goals and an assist. Junior Lexi Peer finished with two goals and an assist, while eighth-grader Payton Bloedow had a goal and three assists.

Juniors Kelly Gleason and Abby Muller, sophomores Ashtyn King and Reagan Dahl and ninth-grader Josie Kropp each had one goal. Senior Piper Gilpatric chipped in an assist, while senior Claire Hagen made three saves in goal.

In beating Blake, Prior Lake outshot the Bears 42-9. Pierson led the way with four goals, while Anderson and Peer each had three goals and Kropp had two goals and an assist.

Gleason, Muller and junior Erin Megarry each scored once. Gleason and Wick both picked up an assist, while Hagen made two saves.