Burnsville Boys Rocked in Lacrosse Season Opener

A young Burnsville team, missing several starters on Thursday, couldn’t hold down a talented and motivated Benilde-St. Margaret’s (BSM) team looking to defend its state championship. 

BSM players came in to the 2011 season opener looking to make a statement and they did just that in a 15-5 decision.

“Overall the whole game we fought and made a statement to the whole state that we’re back,” said BSM junior attack Will Hoesley who powered in five goals in the first half – including three in the first four minutes.

While the talent of BSM did not surprise Blaze coach Jesse Schelitzche, he was eager to see how his young team would perform against an elite team.

“I knew Benilde obviously can put up goals and I know their team really well,” said Schelitzche. “I didn’t know what to expect with our guys because we do have so many new varsity players. For probably six out of nine middies that was their first varsity game. One of our starting defensemen, that was his first varsity game.

"We said we’d much rather have this be our first game than our last game. So we know what we have to work on and we can go from there," Schelitzche added.

Playing under the lights on their new home turf, the Red Knights dominated what is expected to be a good Burnsville team in the season opener.

“They’ve told me it’s their turn,” said Red Knights head coach Colin Mulcahy. “They want to have their own championship. Last year was for the seniors. This year is for them. They want to leave their own mark.”

Led by Hoesley’s fast start, BSM was never headed in the contest. Hoesley scored just nine seconds into the game off an assist from Christian Horn and the Red Knights never looked back.

“It was definitely good,” said BSM junior Christian Horn who had a goal and two assists Thursday. “We knew Burnsville was a good team. We kind of just wanted to come out and make a statement that we were a good team as well.”

BSM led 7-1 after the first quarter, had a 12-2 edge by halftime and were up 15-2 in the third quarter.

BSM’s polished attack at times overwhelmed the Blaze defense and freshman goalie Scott Svare.

“He’s never played a varsity game,” said Schelitzche. “He played junior varsity last year. He has the maturity of a senior, but even so, never having played a varsity game, against some say the best team in the state is going to be a little tough.

“We had five ninth graders on the field today,” Schelitzche added. “It’s good to break them in a little bit.”

On the other side, BSM goalie Thomas Gilligan had a successful counter for almost every Burnsville shot on goal.

Burnsville played without four starters, three of which were pulled because of athletic code violations and one because of injury.

“The effort for the most part was really good,” said Schelitzche. “I think the fact that we never gave up. I know that sounds cliché for a team that loses but at the same time they could have just packed it in.

“We talked about a few things. We tweaked a few things. And I think nerves got the best of us in the first half,” Schelitzche added. “We settled down a little bit. We didn’t control them but we did some things better that we saw and can move forward from.”

Brian Atkinson led Burnsville with two goals.

Burnsville (0-1) plays at Rosemount Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m.