By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer
The Burnsville boys and girls lacrosse teams are going in different directions as the playoffs approach.
The Blaze girls have won two straight games – 9-4 over Eagan/Rosemount on May 6 and 11-9 over Lakeville on May 1.
However, the boys team has lost four straight games, which include 16-5 to Eastview on May 6 and 8-7 to Osseo/Park Center on May 3.
The Section 3 quarterfinals for both teams start Tuesday, May 13 with the semifinals the following day and the finals slated for Friday, May 16. The higher seed plays at home. Complete section brackets can be found at www.mshsl.org [1].
The Burnsville girls (3-5) earned the No. 6 seed and will travel to face third-seeded Lakeville in the quarterfinals. Bloomington Kennedy is the top-seed, while Shattuck-St. Mary’s is the No. 2 seed.
The boys team (2-9) earned the seventh seed will face second-seeded Eagan in the quarterfinals. Eastview is the section’s top seed, while Apple Valley is No. 3 and Lakeville is No. 4.
In the loss to Eastview, Bohdi Engum had two goals for the Blaze boys, while Eddie Whittchow had a goal and an assist and Alex Wheeler and Nick Armstrong each had one goal.
Eric Whittchow and Luke Hendrickson each had an assist, while Steve Band made 22 saves in goal.
Bang had 13 saves in the loss to Osseo/Park Center. The Whittchows provided most of the offense with Eric scoring three goals and Eddie adding two goals, along with an assist. Wheeler and Josh Bonewell each had a goal and assist.
For the Blaze girls, Amanda Colin has been a scoring machine. She had five goals and two assists in the win over Lakeville and added two more goals and an assist against Eagan/Rosemount.
McKenzie Foster also had two goals in both wins, along with one assist.
Desi Murphy had two goals and an assist against Lakeville, while Tristyn Walczak and Emily Lowry each had goals. Also getting assists were Lowry, Kaitlyn Skogseth, Brianna Turnwall and Kelsey Steinbach.
Kiersten Nelson had 13 saves in goal for Burnsville. Nelson had to make only four saves against Eagan/Rosemount.
Hanna Lysaker and Steinbach also had two goals in that win, while Skogseth had one.
The girls’ state tournament is set for May 20-22 at Hopkins and Wayzata High Schools. The boys’ state tourney is May 21-23 at the same venues.