Eagan plays in state tourney for first time since 2018
Eagan finished fifth in the state boys lacrosse tournament last week and while the Wildcats might not have placed as high as they hoped, they know better than anybody that being in the tourney is a whole lot better than not being there.
In 2023, the Wildcats’ state tournament dreams were dashed in a four-overtime loss to Cretin-Derham Hall in the Section 3 final. This year, narrow victories over Woodbury and East Ridge got them to state, where they won their final two games to win the consolation trophy.
Eagan reached the tournament for the fifth time overall and first since 2018, which was the last of a run of three consecutive state trips.
“It’s super-exciting after last year’s section final loss. It’s great to be back,” said senior attackman Sam Simon, who tied a tournament single-game record with eight goals in the consolation final against Minnetonka. “It’s great to be back. I think it means a lot for our coaches and all the players here, especially 16 seniors who this is it for them, it’s their last run. We’re really excited to be here, excited to prove that Eagan lacrosse can hang with all these other boys.”
The Wildcats (15-4) entered the state tournament as the No. 4 seed but lost to fifth-seeded Eden Prairie 8-6 in the quarterfinals June 11 at Eden Prairie High School. Eden Prairie jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and largely stymied Eagan’s potent offense through three quarters. The Wildcats pulled within two goals late in the fourth and rang a shot off the crossbar in the final minute, but couldn’t make it all the way back.
“I give them credit for having a great defense. We had a couple of times where we ran into a double team and lost the ball,” said Simon, one of two Eagan players with hat tricks in the Eden Prairie game (senior attackman Griffin Joas was the other). “At halftime we talked about doing what we’ve been doing all season and try to connect on the simple plays that we weren’t able to do in the first half.”
In contrast to their opening game at state, Eagan started quickly against Centennial in the June 13 consolation semifinals, taking an 8-3 lead into halftime and eventually winning 14-10. Three Eagan players had five-point games: Simon (five goals), senior midfielder Will McLoone (three goals, two assists), and junior attackman Ethan Wollak (two goals, three assists).
Eagan and Minnetonka decided to let the offenses rip in the June 15 consolation final at Chaska High School. The result was 32 goals total and a 21-11 Eagan victory. Simon’s eight goals tied a tournament record set by Nicky Leiverman of Eden Prairie in 2016 and matched by Isaac Peifer of Eagan two years later. Simon also had two assists for a 10-point game to close his high school career.
McLoone had five goals and one assist and recovered 20 ground balls. Joas also had a six-point game with three goals and three assists.
Simon led the Wildcats in scoring with 95 points (78 goals, 17 assists) and was one of five Eagan players with 29 goals or more. Joas had 72 points (33 goals, 39 assists), Wollak had 68 (35 goals, 33 assists), AJ Clark had 56 (49 goals, seven assists) and McLoone had 43 (29 goals, 14 assists). Wollak is the only player from that group who will return next season, and he and sophomore goalie Charlie Heinlein will be among the players asked to keep the momentum going in 2025.
Simon doesn’t doubt that they will.
“They definitely have the potential to come back and do it next year, especially because a lot of our young guys have the experience of playing through sections and winning the section finals,” he said. “They know what it’s like here at state, and they’re going to want to get here every year.”
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