Girls state lacrosse: Cretin-Derham Hall falls in overtime to Edina (original) (raw)
Lilly Selander looked like the hero Tuesday at White Bear Lake Area High School. The sophomore’s goal put fifth-seeded Cretin-Derham Hall up 9-8 over Edina with just 29 seconds to play in the girls lacrosse quarterfinals, and appeared to have the Raiders semifinal-bound.
Edina’s Suri Austin had other ideas. Austin found the back of the net — her sixth point of the game, and fifth in the fourth quarter alone — with just two seconds to spare to force overtime. The goal came on a free shot from 10 yards out that snuck under the cross bar and sent Edina into a state of euphoria and the Raiders, likely, into a brief state of shock.
Then it was the Hornets who claimed victory early in the extra session, as Amelia Witherspoon drove hard to the net and found twine.
Fourth-seeded Edina (14-3) will play in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Thursday back in White Bear Lake, against either Minnetonka or Chisago Lakes. Those two teams met in a quarterfinal played after this edition went to print.
The Hornets fell 8-7 to the top-seeded Skippers on May 5. Edina has won nine straight games since suffering that defeat.
The Raiders led for the majority of the match, going up 7-2 in the late third quarter. But Edina scored six of the next seven goals, including four straight to knot the affair.
Selander led the Raiders (15-2) on Tuesday with four goals. Fellow sophomore Jordin Rosga also netted four goals; the two led the team in points in the regular season with Rosga at 88 and Selander at 87.
Cretin-Derham Hall has just four seniors on its roster, and it figures to be a menace in the Suburban East, and state, for years to come.
The loss marked Cretin-Derham Hall’s first in 14 games. The Raiders’ only other loss this season came in an 8-7 defeat at the hands of Stillwater on April 16, which also was the last time Cretin-Derham Hall was held below the 10-goal mark until Tuesday.
Raiders coach Jeff Rosga sees the game — with its highs and lows — as a metaphor for life.
“What I was really proud of was there was just no quit,” Rosga said. “They kept their head high, they kept battling, they kept competing. And then sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”
He sees the group care for each other and play for each other.
“You can see it at the end: there’s tears,” Rosga said. “They care. They lean in. They bought into not only what we’re trying to do as a coaching staff, but also what they’re trying to do as a team.”