BSM offense too much to handle in championship game
It was a numbers issue for Lakeville North in the state boys lacrosse championship game.
Specifically, Benilde-St. Margaret’s had too many numbers. Too many players who can generate offense, too many places from where they can attack. Topped by two of the state’s premier offensive players, Gus Bell and Sky Rold, the Red Knights gave the North defense too many problems to handle.
The result was an 18-10 victory for BSM in a persistent rain June 15 at Chaska High School.
“What we saw in our previous two (state tournament) games against Moorhead and Stillwater was most of their scoring came from one or two players,” said North coach Matt Stonestrom, whose team was going for a second consecutive state championship. “BSM has four, five or six. That’s going to cause problems for any defense.
“I think it’s almost impossible to beat them when Gus Bell and Sky Rold play as well as they did against us.”
Bell scored three of his game-high six goals in the first quarter as BSM surged to a 5-1 lead. Rold scored five. Any time Lakeville North looked to get back in the game, the Red Knights’ top two scorers did something to make the climb that much tougher.
BSM finished 18-1 and won its sixth state championship. Lakeville North (14-5) had its nine-game winning streak end in the state final.
Twin brothers Blake and Carson Piscitiello scored three goals each for North in the championship game. Blake Piscitiello also had five assists. Lane Johnson and Jackson Whalen had two goals apiece for the Panthers.
Until the state final against BSM, Lakeville North had gone the entire postseason without allowing an opponent more than five goals. That included No. 2 state tournament seed Stillwater, who the Panthers pasted 17-5 in the semifinals June 13.
“It was just trusting the coaching staff. They’re the best in the state,” Blake Piscitiello said when asked about the Panthers’ stingy defense after the Stillwater game. At the beginning of the year we had some new players come in and they needed time to build that trust. When the trust was full, it was full steam ahead.”
The Piscitiello twins each had six points in the Stillwater game – Blake with five goals and one assist, and Carson with four goals and two assists. Quinn Power and Andy Slattery had three goals each and Johnson scored two.
Lakeville North was 5-4 in early May, but the Panthers weren’t worried about the upcoming playoffs. Their losses were in close games against quality teams, including a 9-8 loss to BSM on May 2. They had some new players in the lineup and some returning players in new positions. Given time and patience, they thought the lineup would jell.
“The guys did a good job of coming together as a group, and you could see they were gaining confidence,” Stonestrom said.
Power, the Panthers’ faceoff wizard and third-leading scorer, again was instrumental to the team’s success. He’s off to play for Division I Utah next season.
“The leadership Quinn showed, not just in games but during practices and off the field, is something that will be tough for us to replace,” Stonestrom said.
The coach also cited an under-appreciated role taken on by senior midfielder Max Melin as helping the Panthers pull things together.
“I know Max wanted to play offense this year,” Stonestrom said. “But we had some young players on defense and we asked him to play against the other team’s best offensive player. That’s not something you usually ask a short-stick midfielder to do, but he handled that role really well. He did a lot for us.”
Lakeville North graduated 11 players from its state tournament roster but is expected to be one of the state’s top-ranked teams going into the 2025 season. Returnees include the Piscitiello brothers, whose offensive numbers this year were staggering. They combined for 134 goals and 206 points. Whalen contributed 22 goals this year as a freshman. The Panthers also are hoping for healthy seasons from midfielders Johnson and Jack Niesen, who were limited to nine and seven games this year because of injuries.
Also back will be starting goalie Tate Bouman, who had a .570 save percentage this season.
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