I don’t think I can be prouder of this team.”

Maleah McMorrow

Even in the three regular season games Park lost this spring coming into Wednesday’s section finals, the Wolfpack were never outpowered.

But a fast 4-0 first quarter start by host Cretin-Derham Hall in the Class 1A, Section 3 championship rocked the Wolfpack, and the host Raiders went on to score an 11-4 victory and deny the Wolfpack a return trip to the state girls lacrosse tournament.

It was a very tough ending to a standout season by the Wolfpack. Ninth-ranked Park finished the season 12-4, with three one-score losses, falling only to No. 6 Cretin (6-5), No. 2 Stillwater (5-4) and White Bear Lake (13-12) before the section finals.

It was especially tough for a strong group of 10 Park seniors, most of whom played on last year’s Wolfpack squad that finished third at state. But the future is bright for Park lacrosse as stars such as Maleah McMorrow, Madi Milosevich, Mo Brinkman, Taylor Siemer, Lauren Tate, Ramsey Nelson, Alaina Wright and many others will be hungry for more next spring.

“I don’t think I can be prouder of this team,’ said McMorrow. “We came up losing more than two big forces last season and nobody knew what we were going to bring to the table this year. First week of tryouts we have two returning players in the same exact spot on defense and then the whole rest of the field has been brand new look, a brand-new feel for the game.

“We had a whole new offensive scheme, a whole new coaching staff,” McMorrow continued. “Like no one knew what to expect. We were ranked fourth in our section and we came out and put up a game in the section finals. As a player and as a team you can’t ask for anything else. So we’re ready to be back next year.”

In McMorrow, Milosevich, Brinkman and Wright, Park will return its four leading scorers. Senior goaltender Lauryn Ehrenstrom must be replaced, however.

Top-seeded Cretin stormed out to a 4-0 after one quarter, led 6-1 at the half and 8-2 after three, putting second-seeded Park in a hole too deep to recover. It was only late in the third and then in the fourth period where Park looked like its usual offensive self and by then it was too little, too late.

“Overall, especially as my first time coaching, I didn’t really know what to expect going into it,” said Park head coach Bailey Aasen. “I knew we lost some top players, but I knew we had some people coming up, people switching positions and surprising me. I’m overall super impressed with these girls. I do think they have all the skills that they need, they do still have a lot of young players that are still kind of trying to make the connections and stuff. But they together as a team are like a family.

“So, I think the most success that we can have with even on top of our one-goal losses,” Aasen continued. “Tonight, really was a gut punch but I’m just overall impressed with our season. I think that first quarter really did us in and it’s hard to come back from those deficits. I know it can be done but it takes a lot.”

Cretin had 14 shots on goal, connecting on 11 of them,

The top-seeded Raiders improved to 15-1 on the year and will play in next week’s state championship at White Bear Lake. Cretin steamrolled through the section, crushing St. Paul Academy 21-2 and St. Croix Prep 18-0 before ousting Park by seven.

Stillwater edged White Bear Lake 6-4 in Section 4 to give the SEC two teams in the state tournament this spring. Stillwater is seeded third and Cretin fifth.