Accolades continue to come in for Jefferson’s Scott Cater.
The well-known boys’ lacrosse coach was inducted into the state lacrosse association’s inaugural Hall of Fame class last summer and added two Coach of the Year honors this season.
Cater coached the Jaguars to their first Metro West Conference title (6-0) since 2016, and he was named the Section 6 and statewide coach of the year. The Jaguars went 12-2, reaching the section semifinal before a 10-6 loss to Edina. Jefferson added wins against Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Chanhassen were among the conference wins, in addition to wins over Eastview/Apple Vally and twice against Shakopee and Rosemount.
“It’s a result of being surrounded by many great people,” he humbly said. “We have great support from the parents and players who commit to everything we ask to do from the classroom to the field. This year, we had a great mix of kids who just kept raising their level of lacrosse all season because we could do things in practice that other teams could not.”
The cumulative team grade point average was 3.5, which translated to absorbing the coaching quickly so they could work through more intricate game plans, which were executed well.
“We were doing things in 10-15 minutes that some seasons would take 2-3 days,” Cater said. “This group was a responsive, bright group of kids, and it showed with a super successful season. I get a lot of people who measure a successful year on wins and losses. I measure it by the impact we have on people. We go from a 90-minute practice to doing team yoga and film sessions and notice how we support each other. If we can look each other in the eye, we can rise to the same standard across the board.”
One of the practice sessions is called Compete 30, which is 30 straight minutes of competitive drills, like a 4-3 odd-man drill, to find the open player. “The other team would get frustrated, so they would have to anticipate where the slides (defensive switch) would come from and would pick it up quickly. We would see incremental growth and the responsiveness to adjust to the game or opponent, which separated this group.”
As for winning that first conference crown in eight years, Cater will proudly wear that title. “We have some teams like BSM and Chanhassen that make it hard to win the conference,” he said.
Eleven individual players collected 30 total awards, including All-American honors from seniors Bennett Lindman and Owen Baker, who helped keep the defense at a crazy low goals-against average.
“The kid is going to be missed,” Cater said after graduating Lindman, who has served as a capable goaltender. “He’s the backbone of our team for three years, and we have won 1-2 goal games against the best in the state. Owen’s defense is amazing. You’d see him pick up multiple ground balls each quarter. Owen was a tone-setter for our team, and both will be missed.”
Hall of Fame
A year after being recognized by his peers in coaching, Cater said that being part of the first-ever class “is super humbling to be part of that first class.”
Cater remembers hanging lacrosse posters in the lunchroom with John Leverenz to try and recruit students for that first-year team more than 25 years ago. “And now we are seeing pictures of our former players who are now coaching,” he said without considering stopping teaching or coaching anytime soon. “My whole professional life has been about teaching and coaching; it’s just who I am.”
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