Tonka Lacrosse Players Still Competing

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. -- When Stewart Utter and Chase Leinberger caddied for the 2009 Minnetonka State Champion lacrosse team, the freshman pair shared specific responsibilities on an upperclassman-filled team.

Cleanup squad.

"Oh yeah, you go out there for the last two minutes and get beat on," Utter said. "But you get to show off the bruises when you win a state championship, so it was definitely worth it."

Those beatings have ended and the Minnetonka seniors, who are following the lessons learned from watching Class of '09 members Pete Carbonneau, Sean Folley and Charles Earl Hanson lead the Skippers to an 18-0 season and the first Minnesota State Championship in school history.

Joined by fellow seniors Jon Dryke, Teddy O'Reilly and Dane Ameling, the Skippers hope to shake off the frustration of two straight years of losses in the Section 6 Championship game. They want to go out on top.

"It's our team," Leinberger said. "We saw what those guys did and how they were role models. It's like our coaches keep telling us that we're the Godfathers of Minnetonka lacrosse. We see what we have to do."

The process of being "made" three years ago doesn't rest in the summer, which is why the quintet dons the gear as part of Minnesota Elite Gold, a travelling All-Star team of kids from area high schools, including Wayzata and Eden Prairie, the teams that ended Minnetonka's 2010 and 2011 seasons, respectively.

Minnesota Gold competes in three national tournaments a summer, using the settings as a way to improve skills and get seen by college coaches. The team went to last month's Baltimore Summer Kickoff, then the Tri-Lax National Summer Festival last weekend in Princeton Junction, N.J.

So much for relaxing.

"We could be on the lakes, but we want to experience this," Leinberger said. "We can scrimmage a local team, but the competition is nothing like it is here."

At the Tri-Lax, Elite went 4-1 overall against teams from New York,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Virginia, ending Saturday's round-robin portion as the second seed in the 13-team South division of the "AA" bracket, or highest level of varsity competition.

They lost in the single-elimination playoff on Sunday, by Mesa Fresh, a team stacked with players already committed to Division 1 colleges.

"This is one of the stronger tournaments for us," said Gold coach Colin Achenbach. "We try to play in the hardest bracket for the competition and for a better opportunity to be seen. These kids are driven, and I think they're starting to see lacrosse as a tool to help get a great education."

That and to show that Minnesota is more than just ice hockey.

"You get people saying, 'They're a bunch of hockey players, then we come out and beat teams," Utter said. "It's good to show that we can compete with these All-Star teams even though we're not on the East Coast."

One more tournament remains for Minnesota Elite Gold, the Battle of the Hotbeds in Delaware at the end of July. After that, the Minnetonka boys will focus on the 2012 spring season with the same goal.

"Every year, our team goals are to win a state championship," said Utter, who had 18 goals and five assists in his junior season. "That doesn't change. It doesn't matter who graduates. It's a factory. You bring in new guys, and you keep trying, because we're all good players."