Leonard talks about the game-winning goal

I don’t realize how it happened anymore. It just went in the net.”

Park senior Josie Leonard

After four straight seasons of heartbreaking near misses, the Park Wolfpack fought their way to state Wednesday.

Park senior Josie Leonard powered in the game winner with 2:04 left in the third overtime to lift the host Wolfpack past the visiting Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders 11-10 in a wild and woolly in the Class 1A, Section 3 championship girls lacrosse championship filled with drama from start to finish.

“Honestly when I first shot it I didn’t even realize it was the game-winning goal and then I was just happy from there,” said Leonard. “I don’t realize how it happened anymore. It just went in the net.”

The Wolfpack went 16-0 on the season and qualified for the state tournament for the first time as a single school. A combined Park and Woodbury team competed at state as South Washington County during the 2009 season.

Park had fallen in the section semifinals three out of the last four years, twice as favorites, and had lost in section finals in 2022. And this game didn’t’ look good for the Wolfpack early in the third quarter. But this season the Wolfpack found a way to win and banish the ghosts of the past.

“It’s so big for me, we’ve been trying to do this for the five years I’ve been here, and we were close our eighth-grade year, and we finally did it our senior year and it’s just a big deal,” said star senior Madi Brinkman who led Park with four goals, including the one which forced overtime.

Brinkman said there were times when she had doubts about the outcome.

“A little, at one point, but Josie just yelled at me and got me back in the game,” Brinkman said. “She was there for me.”

The game was everything you could want in a section final.

“I knew it was going to be dramatic,” said Park head coach Scott Lonard, now in his 19thand final season directing the Wolfpack. “We don’t ever play those guys without it being a one-goal game. I wasn’t hoping for overtime, but …”

Leonard agreed that Park struggled with Cretin’s defense at times, but that the Wolfpack was finally able to solve it.

“They have a backer zone that they play, and we worked on a lot of different things to try and sets to do it, to go against it, and we ended up just letting our girls play free and they ended up doing better just playing free on their own, without us calling plays,” Leonard added. “Yea worked out. It’s so sweet. After the last two years being the one seed and going out in the semis it’s been a tough pill to shallow. I’m glad these girls got us over the hump. And 16 years since the last trip.”

There were times, both early and late, when Park struggled, but the team stayed positive, said senior attacker Kyra Stofer. “I think bringing up the energy and really pushing each other and really staying positive kept us going.”

“When we got down, we came back, we brought the energy back and we did it,” said Emery Lettner.

The game was a back-and-forth afraid from start to finish. Cretin led 3-2 after the first period and 6-5 at the half. Park trailed 9-6 at one point on the third quarter and a three-goal deficit in any game is hard to overcome. But the Wolfpack regained its offensive prowess and started scoring goals. Both teams punched in four goals in a wild third period with Cretin leading 10-9 entering the fourth period.

And then the defenses kicked in on both sides. Neither team could manage to put anything in the back of the net until a dramatic goal by Park senior Madi Brinkman with 5:21 left in regulation. Both teams had an opportunity to win in in regulation but both defenses held firm. Brinkman almost had the game-winner at the end of regulation, but the ball crossed the line just after the buzzer sounded.

“I think we really locked in when we needed to,” said Hollen Thompson of the Park defense. “We had to dig deep, really dig. I think that we stayed calm though. We didn’t give up any easy, any cheap shots that could have lost us the game. We were strong and we trusted each other which was what helped us win.”

The two evenly matched teams then continued to trade blows in the first two overtimes, with neither team succeeding until Leonard’s game-winning goal in the third.

Brinkman’s four goals and an assist led the Wolfpack in her final game at Cottage Grove. Leonard had three goals and an assist. Maleah McMorrow scored twice and added two assists. Kyra Stofer also had two goals.

Junior Lauryn “Crash” Ehrenstrom started in goal but had a rough night, allowing 9 goals on 13 attempts with four saves. Junior Aubree Laska went in just two minutes into the second half and finished the game, allowing one goal in three attempts with two saves.

“They ended up throwing me in and we ended up winning the game,” said an emotional Laska. “I’m just super happy.”

Laska said the Wolfpack are pumped for state. “We got it. We’re going to hang with every single team that’s there. Our team -- we’re not an underdog. If anything, we’re going to be on top of everyone there for competition.”

Park finished the regular season as the No. 2 ranked team in Minnesota and now it’s on to the state tournament.

“It’s been so fun, “said team manager Lily Anderson. “I’m so happy to see my best friends win tonight.”

Girls' lacrosse state tournament schedule

Park (16-0) earned the No. 2 seed and was scheduled to open state tournament play Tuesday afternoon against seventh-seeded Elk River/Zimmerman (12-4) in the quarterfinals at Chaska High School.

The rest of the quarterfinal bracket at Chaska was:

 Sixth seeded Maple Grove (13-3) vs. third-seeded Stillwater (13-2).

 Fifth-seeded Lakeville South (13-3) against fourth-seeded Orono (14-2).

 Eighth-seeded Chisago Lakes (14-2) against top-seeded Prior Lake (16-0).

The lacrosse state semifinals are set for 3 and 5 p.m. Thursday at Eden Prairie High School. The championship finals will be played at 3:30 on Friday, again at Eden Prairie High.

If the seeds hold, Park will have a rematch against third-ranked Stillwater in the semifinals Thursday at 3 p.m. at Eden Prairie High. The Wolfpack edged the Ponies 7-6 in the regular season on May 8.