By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

Both Burnsville lacrosse teams had a short stay in the Section 3 tournament, losing in the quarterfinals on May 13.

The seventh-seeded Blaze boys lost 13-4 to second-seeded Eagan and finished its first season as a sanctioned sport with a 2-11 record.

The sixth-seeded Blaze girls fell 10-4 to third-seeded Lakeville, finishing its first season with a 3-8 mark.

“This first season has been nothing but positive for our team and our program,” said Blaze girls coach Emily LeClair. “The girls all came to practice, wanting to get better. We stayed conditioned throughout the season, learned that we could play with anyone and also built the confidence that we could be successful if we played as a team.

“No one ever thought we would have come out of our first varsity season with three wins,” continued LeClair, whose team has no seniors. “That in itself was a huge milestone.”

Meanwhile, Blaze boys coach Jesse Schelitzche said as the season went on his team’s confidence grew. The Blaze may have finished the season losing its last six games, but the foundation was set for the coming years.

“We played well as a team and started getting looks and making plays that were not there in the beginning of the season,” said Schelitzche, whose team will graduate nine seniors. “Probably the biggest positive was seeing younger guys really step up for us this year. At the end of the year, we were playing five or six freshmen in every game; and several sophomores stepped up as well.“It should be very exciting to watch these guys grow,” continued Schelitzche. “Our biggest hang-up this year was just our lack of game experience. I’m very confident that every year we play, our team will get stronger and stronger.”

In the quarterfinal loss, the Blaze got one goal apiece from seniors Sam Heer, Josh Bonewell and Jack Reimer and juniors Alex Wheeler and Eric Whittchow.

Reimer led the Blaze in goals scored for the season with 12, while ninth-grader Eddie Whittchow had 10, his older brother Eric had nine and Wheeler had seven.

Meanwhile, the Blaze girls team had four different goal scorers in its quarterfinal loss. Sophomores Kelsey Steinbach, Brooke Larsen and Amanda Colin and ninth-graders Tristyn Walczak each had goals.

Colin led the Blaze in goals scored for the season with 23, while Steinbach had 14, sophomore McKenzie Foster had eight and Walczak had seven.