If the Prior Lake boys soccer team was going to win the Section 2AA title, it first needed to stay onside.

Down 2-0, the second-seeded Lakers kept working, eventually pulling out a 3-2 win over fifth-seeded Chanhassen in the finals Oct. 19 at Shakopee West Middle School.

It wasn't a pretty contest, very physical and, at times, a little sloppy. And how about all those offsides penalties by the Lakers — 11 in the first half. Prior Lake was down 2-1 at the break.

In the second half, the Lakers figured out how to stay onside after going offsides twice in the first five minutes. And then the offense came.

Junior Jake Leonard scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute. He got to a loose ball about 20 yards from the goal and drilled a shot through traffic into the upper corner of the net.

Senior Daniel Wee tied the game in the 68th minute with junior Michael Wu getting the assist. Wee got to a high-arching ball near the Storm goal and was able to get just enough foot on it to put it away to tie the game.

Prior Lake (14-4-1 overall) earned its first-ever trip to state as a Class 2A program. It qualified in 2000 in Class A.

What was going through the Lakers' heads down 2-0 in the first half?

"When we were down 2-0, it was scary," Wee said. "I wasn't sure what to think. But we powered through and just kept working. This is an awesome honor to get to state."

State brackets come out Oct. 21 and will be available at www.mshsl.com. Top-ranked Wayzata (17-0-2) is likely the No. 1 seed. The Lakers look to be the No. 4 or 5.

Other teams in the field: Second-ranked Stillwater (16-1-2), No. 3 Duluth East (18-1), No. 5 Maple Grove (15-1-2), Apple Valley (9-6-3), Mounds View (9-8-2) and Lakeville North (12-3-4).

Quarterfinal play is either Oct. 24 or 25. The semifinals are Oct. 30 with the title game Nov. 2. The final two rounds are at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Meanwhile, in beating Chanhassen, Wee said staying onside was a point of emphasis at the half. Prior Lake should have felt fortunate to be down by just a goal.

Senior Logan Weller tallied his team-best 23rd goal of the season in the 21st minute with senior Jake Ornes assisting. Weller's goal came just two minutes after Chanhassen went up 2-0.

"At halftime, coach told us to stay back more, check to the ball, play it back and then have someone play it through to keep us from getting too close to the offsides line," Wee said. "We were more patient."

"We were able to overcome the offsides stuff," Leonard said. "We showed a lot of heart in the second half. A lot of credit to the guys; we came out and got it done."

Winning a section title isn't easy. Sometimes it takes a good bounce too. In the 61st minute, Chanhassen nearly made it 3-1, hitting the crossbar on a wide-open look in front of Prior Lake senior goalie, Ethan Derks.

If that goes in, the Lakers might have been in trouble down two goals again with just 19 minutes left to play.

Derks made some big saves in the second half, making four for the game. Prior Lake's defense bottled up Chanhassen in the final 40 minutes for the most part, except for the shot off the crossbar.

Lakers coach, Mike Shebuski was pleased with his team's energy in the semifinals, a 3-1 win over third-seeded Minnetonka on Oct. 17, and hoped it would carry over to the title game.

"The boys were bringing energy, playing together and responding well to every challenge," Shebuski said. "The boys know when they play together like that, they’re giving themselves the best chance to be successful."