Boys lacrosse: Irish undefeated, but still looking to improve

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While the Rosemount boys lacrosse team has started the season with an unbeaten record heading into the week, the Irish still believe they have not played to their capabilities.

A 6-0 record heading into this week was supported by a strong defensive showing and improving offensive production. If Rosemount is to reach its ultimate goal of making noise in the playoffs, the team knows it needs a complete effort.

If there was an area of weakness to this point, the Irish know they must be more disciplined. They are being hit with too many penalties.

“We can’t play the game a man down,” Kuehn said. “No matter how bad or good of a team we are playing, we can’t continue to have one or two less guys on the field. We can’t win like that. Going into the future, more teams we face will be consistent with a man up and we’ll have trouble with all these penalties.”

Despite playing more time than it wants shorthanded, Rosemount was still unbeaten after topping Bloomington Jefferson 12-7 and Rochester Century 18-13 last week.

The games offered more signs of the Irish closing in on a complete effort.

“The defense with Gabe Moulier, Matt Larson and Jake O’Malley gives us a very good core of starters,” Kuehn said. “We really are solid defensively. We talked about how defense might be our weak point. It’s not a weak point anymore. Those guys play pretty much the whole game without any issues and they are able to shut teams down on offense.

“The offense is coming around. We’ve had the scoring from the second line and midfield that we haven’t had in the past.”

Against Bloomington Jefferson last week, Matt Weller and Grant Van Overbeke each scored three times. Logan Lindberg added two goals and four assists.

Conner Yepsen and Alec Hall added goals and Chase Olson made 10 saves in goal.

“The weather still wasn’t in our favor,” Kuehn said. “It was wet and rainy. That was the tough part, but we had to adjust to playing in the rain and we still have to do what we have to do. Logan Lindberg really helped on offense, creating a lot of opportunities for others to score. Together he and Jake Mortenson had 13 ground balls. That’s a big deal. Matt Larson had eight ground balls. He was fighting for balls on the ground for us and came up with quite a few of them. That helps us win because we have that many more possessions.”

Van Overbeke and Weller each scored five times against Rochester Century. Weller had two assists. Carter Yepsen added four goals and two assists.

Mortenson scored two goals and passed out three assists. Lindberg and Hall each had a goal and an assist.

Olson made 15 saves.

Rosemount led 12-3 at halftime. Rochester Century closed the gap late with seven fourth-quarter goals.

“At halftime we had a good lead and our attackers were scoring quite a bit,” Kuehn said. “We started playing our fourth line and tried to give our JV guys a bit more experience.”

The Irish host Apple Valley tomorrow.

Tags: boys lacrosse, sports, prep, irish, rosemount