Rebels girls lax finishes second to Red Knights in championship

Champlin Park girls lacrosse concluded its 2024 spring season last week with a loss to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Section 5 final.

Final

Champlin Park faced Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Section 5 final on June 5, hosted and won 9-5 by the top-seeded Red Knights.

Alayna Roehl led Champlin Park’s scoring with two goals. Miley Jiracek scored one goal and made two assists, while Ella Engstrom and Cally Gunderson scored one goal each.

The Red Knights entered the month as the third-ranked team in the state, while Champlin Park was ranked eighth. Benilde-St. Margaret’s won the Metro West Conference this year with a 7-0 record. The team’s only non-conference loss coming from Lakeville North mid-season.

BSM led 4-1 at halftime after a strong start that saw Champlin Park defend heavily, but also miss three chances to score on penalties to close the gap. The third quarter include a goal for each team before weather concerns stopped the game during the final intermission. The fourth quarter included a whopping seven goals between the two teams, with BSM remaining on top by the final whistle to win the championship and deny Champlin Park a second-consecutive year in the state tournament.

Semifinal

Champlin Park began last week with a blockbuster 10-9 win over Maple Grove at Maple Grove in the section semifinals. The win did not come easily against a Crimson team that handed Champlin Park its only loss of the regular season.

Schindlbeck scored the winning goal with just 32 seconds remaining, before Champlin Park goalie Paige Hagenbart made a key save 15 seconds later to hold on to that lead. She made eight saves that night after a strong 5-0 start by Maple Grove.

Schindlbeck also had three assists against Maple Grove. Reese Hagenbart led the scoring with four goals, while Johnson and Roehl scored two each. Engstrom also scored one goal, while Jiracek made two assists.

Champlin Park girls lacrosse will graduate 14 seniors this year, including Addy Dale, Aayana Davison, Kaitlyn Ehrlichman, Briana Krieger, Kim Phan, Astrid Clem, Lauren Schindlbeck, Annabelle Johnson, Engstrom, Gunderson, Rachel Cottingham, Arabella Senescall, Eleanor Gregornik and Penie Sackgavong.

The Rebels end the year with a 7-1 conference record, 14-2 overall this season, taking just two losses all Spring.