The Prior Lake girls lacrosse team's experience and talent shined through in the Section 6 title game.

Senior Aleah Fjelstad scored five goals to spark the top-seeded Lakers to a 13-5 win over second-seeded Apple Valley June 9 at Holy Angels.

Prior Lake earned a spot in the state field for a second straight season under fifth-year coach Ali Minelli-Fenstermacher, who was also honored as State Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year.

The Lakers didn't panic with only a one-goal lead at the break (4-3) against Apple Valley. Instead, Prior Lake showed its championship pedigree in the final 25 minutes, dominating from start to finish.

The Lakers beat Apple Valley 15-14 during South Suburban Conference play, so Fjelstad knew the Eagles were not to be taken lightly.

"We were surprised by that first game and how close it was," said Fjelstad. "We really came out hard in the second half. We wanted to get a lead on them early and we did that."

Prior Lake (15-1 overall) earned the No. 2 seed for state and will open the quarterfinals June 14 versus Blaine (10-6) at Chanhassen at 1 p.m.

Other quarterfinal games: top-seeded Eden Prairie (15-1) versus Cretin-Derham Hall (13-3), third-seeded Blaze (14-2) versus Lakeville South (12-4) and fourth-seeded Stillwater (15-1) against fifth-seeded Maple Grove (15-1).

The semifinals are June 16 at Minnetonka at 3 and 5 p.m. The title game is June 18 at Chanhassen at 3:30 p.m. For complete brackets, go to www.mshsl.org.

Prior Lake took fifth at state last year in the program's first-ever appearance. With only three seniors on last year's squad, there's been a lot of hope this spring that the Lakers can go a little further this time around.

"That's our goal," said Fjelstad. "We were happy to get to state last year. We're hoping to go further this time."

Fjelstad said winning the second section title is just as exciting as the first one.

"This is such a great feeling; we've all worked hard for this," said Fjelstad. "Now we just want to keep it going."

Prior Lake rolled into the title game with easy wins in the first two rounds — 18-1 over ninth-seeded Minneapolis in the quarterfinals June 3 and 19-3 over fifth-seeded Bloomington Jefferson in the semifinals June 7.

The Lakers, ranked No. 3 in the final state poll, go into state having outscored its last five opponents 83-17. Prior Lake's only loss is 18-7 to Eden Prairie. The Lakers also won the SSC title with a perfect 9-0 mark.

In beating Apple Valley, ranked No. 5, senior Lauren Priest and Fjelstad scored goals in the first four minutes of the second half to give the Lakers a three-goal lead.

Once up by that much, Prior Lake played with a lot of control, confidence and patience, forcing the Eagles to take chances on defense, which led to some easy Laker goals.

"We were trying to be very patient on offense," said Fjelstad. "I thought we had good ball control."

Priest and senior Ashley Norberg both scored two goals for the Lakers, while seniors Ally Barian and Alexa Bloedow and ninth-graders Jordan Anderson and Lauren Wick each had one.

Junior Sarah Pierson picked up an assist, while junior Claire Hagen was strong in goal with eight saves.

Prior Lake's defense, led by Bloedow, Barian, junior Raquel Rhume, junior Amanda Barian and Wick, did a good job of forcing the Eagles to the outside. Apple Valley didn't get many straight-on rushes toward the Lakers' goal.

To see more photos of the Lakers against Apple Valley, click here:http://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_lake_american/section-girls-lacrosse-prior-lake-vs-apple-valley/collection_22f4cd16-cf66-54f9-8979-fb8b237cdda3.html.

Laker Honors

Meanwhile, Fjelstad and Norberg are also up the Ms. Lacrosse Award, which is presented by the Minnesota Minute Men. It is given to Minnesota's most outstanding senior high school girls player and is selected by a panel of scouts, coaches and select media members from the state.

Fjelstad and Norberg are two of seven finalists. The winner will be named at the annual banquet on June 19 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park at 2 p.m. The Mr. Lacrosse winner will also be announced, along with the top goalie awards for boys and girls.

Other Ms. Lacrosse finalists include: Annie Lyman of Blake, Sarah Woodring of Eden Prairie, Katie Moynihan of Apple Valley, Megan Menzuber of Holy Family and Carly Fedorowski of Stillwater.

Fjelstad heads into state with 43 points (32 goals, 11 assists), while Norberg has 29 goals and 20 assists.