Hastings lacrosse team starts with win over Park

The first Hastings High School varsity lacrosse game couldn’t have gone any better. In their first game as a high school sport, Hastings beat arch-rival Park of Cottage Grove, 15-4.

It was Park’s first varsity game, too.

Head coach Brian Jenson was the club team’s head coach since 2000, and was thrilled to see the sport become a varsity one.

“It was huge,” Jenson said. “A lot of these guys have been playing lacrosse since middle school. The goal was that by the time they got to high school, it would be a varsity sport.

“It was really special for me, too, to finally see us be at that point, being able to compete with everyone else in the state high school league.”

Hastings dominated from the first faceoff, building a nice lead early and then adding to it down the stretch.

“It was nice to get that first win,” Jenson said. “Like I told the guys after the game, it’s just one game. The moment has passed. We’ve got 12 more to worry about.”

Jenson said he was especially happy with how Hastings was able to move the ball, both on offense and while clearing the ball on defense.

“That’s one thing that’s held us back in the past — trying to do too much with the ball,” he said. “The guys are doing a really good job of knowing what do without the ball to get open.

“We also applied pressure really well whenever the other team got in close for a shot. We forced a lot of takeaways and bad shots on that end.”

Sam McGree led the Hastings effort on offense. He had four goals and two assists. Colin Shoen had three goals and one assist. Shoen also had six ground balls.

Andrew Cordell had two goals and two assists. He won eight of 10 faceoffs for Hastings.

Isaiah McCullough had one goal and two assists to go along with four ground balls.

Jordan Burr had a goal and an assist.

Mikey Smith had two goals.

Nick Trumble and R.J. Martineau each had a goal.

Logan Chilson won four-of-four faceoff attempts.

Goalie Zach Chilson came up big, recording 12 saves to earn the win.

On defense, Ryan Gillard had five ground balls.

Casey Gillard had three takeaways.

Roster

Here is the varsity roster for Hastings:

01 Brian Willson

02 Brandon McCarthy

03 James Mohrhauser

04 Michael Gegen

05 Danny Anderson

06 Ryan Gillard

07 Zach Chilson

08 Nick Trumble

09 Sam McGree

10 Dustin Ohlhauser

11 Isaiah McCullough

12 Jordan Burr

13 Logan Shoen

14 Michael Sacchetti

15 Mikey Smith

16 Nick Baum

17 Andrew Cordell

18 Carter Nelson

19 RJ Martineau

20 Connor Stoker

21 Casey Gillard

22 Andrew Rivera

23 Colin Shoen

24 Scott Schlosser

25 Alex Boyer

26 Logan Chilson

27 John Kummer

28 Jacob Marshall

30 Tony Lodermeier

Tags: hhs lacrosse, sports, hastings, minnesota, spiral, prep, local