Park girls lacrosse: Wolfpack brings down Bears, rival Royals and Raptors

The Park girls lacrosse team improved its win streak to four games with Suburban East Conference wins over White Bear Lake, Woodbury and East Ridge.

The Wolfpack is now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC after starting the year 0-3.

“We’re playing really well right now,” Park head coach Scott Leonard said. “We got off to a slow start this season, but since then people are starting to fall into positions for us and we have a pretty good rotation. Overall, our offensive transition game is probably the best we’ve had in years. We’re able to move the ball through the midfield by passing instead of running it up.”

Park freshman forward Bailey Aasen and senior midfielder Allie Thalhuber each scored five goals in the Wolfpack’s 15-6 win over Woodbury, which is playing as a non-cooperative team for the first time this season after playing with East Ridge last year and alongside Park in previous years.

In addition, Park sophomore forward Maddie Nelson had a goal and two assists and Erica Weidner, Karisa Land, Ashley Wagenman and Katie Bresnahan each had one goal.

Prior to beating Woodbury (1-4; 1-3 SEC) on Wednesday, April 25, Park took down White Bear Lake 8-5 on Monday, April 23.

“We came out very strong against White Bear finishing the first half up 4-1,” Leonard said. “Our passing in transition was very impressive, the best it has been in a long time.”

Thalhuber was most of the Wolfpack’s offense in the win scoring five goals. Also, Land, Aasen, and Bresnahan had one goal each. In the net, senior Allie Morse had her best game of the year, making 16 saves on 21 shots.

“We were led by Allie Morse in the nets,” Leonard said. “With five minutes to go in the game we were winning 8-2 and her save percentage hovered around 90 percent, which is incredible in lacrosse. The defense did a great job of limiting most of their shots to poor angles and weak-side opportunities.”

This past Monday, Park took on East Ridge, which split from Woodbury this offseason, at East Ridge. Park came away with a 12-7 win over the Raptors (4-5; 2-3 SEC). In the game, the Wolfpack went up 6-3 at the half, then built a 12-5 second half lead, before East Ridge scored two late goals.

Seven different players scored goals for Park in the game. Thalhuber scored three goals and Nelson, Land and Bresnahan each scored twice, while Aasen, Weidner and Emma Waller each had one goal. Aasen, Nelson and Thalhuber also each tallied one assist.

“We’re much more balanced than we have been in a while,” Leonard said. “Allie is a very, very good player, but now we have other people who have stepped up too.”

Next, Park plays host to Forest Lake (4-3; 2-2 SEC) on Wednesday, May 2.

Tags: sports, lacrosse, park, wolfpack, prep, updates