The Becker Bulldog boys lacrosse team celebrated their incredibly successful 2016 season with an awards banquet last week.

 

Becker lost to the Red River Valley Polars in early June in the championship match by a score of 9-8. They came out strong, shutting down the Polars' offense with strong defense and great goalie play while scoring four times.

 

By the second quarter, the Polars were able to get on the scoreboard with a couple of goals from their midfield and their defense tightened, only giving up one goal to make it 5-2 in favor of Becker at halftime.

 

Each team tallied three goals in the third quarter and Becker looked on the verge of capturing the title.

 

Red River Valley had other plans. They shut down the Bulldogs in the final frame and tied the game with five minutes left, then took the lead for the first time with two minutes left.

 

Despite having a power play in the final minute, the Bulldogs could not get the ball past the Polar goalie and they fell in crushed defeat when the buzzer sounded — ending their season.

 

In 2015, Duluth captured the championship while Becker lost to Red River in the third place game by a score of 15-4. The year prior (2014), Becker had won the third place title over St. Paul by a score of 10-9.

 

Milan Kent was named to the All-American team along with Owen Stempkovski of St. Paul. The All-State team consisted of four Bulldog players including Kent, Zach Olson-Burkman, Cale MacMillan and Owen Houghton.

 

In the South Conference (which Becker plays), six players made the first or honorable mention teams and they included Olson-Burkman, Kent, MacMillan, Houghton, Noah Johnson and Alex Meidt.

The Head Coach Award went to Brandon Kent of Becker and Steve Pisca of Chisago Lakes was given the assistant coach award.

 

Becker High School voted in favor of having the boys lacrosse team be a school-sanctioned team in 2017. The boys will be the 27th sport/activity registered with the Minnesota State High School League.