The Raiders came back from their largest deficit of the season to beat an aggressive St. Louis Park team 9 to 5 at Washburn High School Stadium on Saturday, becoming the 2013 Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association Varsity State Champions.
The Raiders found themselves trailing 0 to 3 after one quarter. It was only the second time all year that an opponent had scored first, and the very first time that the Raiders had been shut out in a quarter. It appeared that St. Louis Park had zeroed in on Hudson’s top scorers and would not give them a decent shot.
In the second quarter, Hudson passed the ball to other players who stepped up to take the shots. Leo Murray scored his 4th goal of the year off of a pass from Brandon Schwartz. Senior Zach Gapinski scored his first goal of the year with an assist from McKay Potter. Adam Lipps scored the tying goal, and it was a new game. Saint Louis Park was a man up on a Hudson penalty when they got a goal to pull ahead by one – 3 to 4 at half time.
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Potter opened the second half with a goal off an assist from Schwartz, tying the game at 4. Will Reece scored to pull ahead 5 to 4. Saint Louis park scored a goal to tie things up again at 5. Potter and Schwartz each scored to end the third quarter with Hudson leading 7 to 5.
Hudson’s defensive unit, having one of its best games of the season, continued to hold off the St. Louis Park offensive attack with aggressive stick and body checks from Hudson’s defensemen, and some brilliant saves by goalie Jordan Madden. Taren Motte scored off of a pass from Reece. Reece paid dearly for that assist, taking a savage hit that put him on the ground, needing assistance to leave the field. Reece responded by getting back in the game and scoring the final goal.