Panther girls lacrosse on a tear

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Girls averaging nearly 20 goals per game lately
The Lakeville North girls lacrosse team is on a run like no other team in the state.

The girls are averaging almost 18 goals per game while giving up around seven after seven games.

But coach Kate Leavell isn’t satisfied just yet.

“We are hoping to keep improving as the season goes along,” Leavell said. “By sections, we would really like to decrease our goals allowed and clean up some of our plays.  The girls are playing great but we know that there is much to work on to reach our potential.”

Leavell feels this team has the potential to be one of the best teams in Lakeville history.

Two years ago she coached a combined program with Lakeville South that went to state.

“This North team is ahead of where our combined team was at this point into the season, but we are lacking senior leadership,” Leavell said. “The underclassmen have really stepped up and they are hoping to lead the team through the playoffs. There’s a lot of talent here and its exciting to watch them play.”

The top players are all underclassmen. Point leaders are sophomore Kacie Waagbo, freshman Logan Dobratz, and juniors Hannah Koloski and Lauren Storhoff. And the team’s top defensive player is freshman Lexie Witte, who shut down Eden Prairie’s Christine Easton and Eagan’s Simone Haugen.

The girls have a scheduled game at Blake at 5 p.m. on Saturday, which will go a long way toward seeing where they stack up. Blake is ranked No. 1 in the state and has won the state title the past two seasons.

If the Panthers can keep up the high scoring machine that got it 20 goals against Prior Lake Monday, 20 goals against Wayzata on Saturday, 19 against Eagan on April 26, 18 against Apple Valley on April 24, and 20 against Bloomington Kennedy on April 19, the Panthers could dethrone the defending champions.

“All of our midfielders and attackers are pretty driven to hit the net,” Leavell said. “Our focus is always on total points rather than goals. Assists in the stat book mean that our offense is working together.”

The only loss this season came against Eden Prairie, the No. 2 ranked team in the state, on April 11. Still, the Panthers managed 11 goals against a team that allows on average around four.

“We are hoping to get another chance to face them after having more time to develop our defense and transitions,” Leavell said.

Boys lacrosse

The Panther boys lacrosse team broke a two-game losing streak on Monday by defeating Prior Lake 10-9 in double overtime.

With a 2-2 score at halftime, the Panthers were down by four goals midway through the second half, but started to score in bunches.

In the second overtime, Sean Mitchell scored the winning goal to break a two-game losing streak.

The Panthers had victories over Owatonna, Farmington and Bloomington Kennedy to start this season.

The only losses came against Apple Valley and Eagan, two of the top ranked programs in the state.

Head coach Jeff Wright feels the best is yet to come.

“We have yet to play a compete four-quarter game of lacrosse,” Wright said. “We must come together and play an entire game. We also must play as a team and have a little more patience, but at the same time we also need to play with a little more urgency as well. This is an extremely talented team and I cannot wait until we really start to click.”

It’s been a team effort lead by Charlie Hayes and Jack Hughes with eight players with at least one goal.

The boys will head to Chanhassen for a 12:30 p.m. game on Saturday. The playoffs are scheduled to begin May 23.