Ever since the sport of lacrosse was introduced to the Big 9 Conference back in 2016, it’d be rather difficult to find another school that’s been a powerhouse in both boys and girls lacrosse like the Owatonna Huskies have.
Thanks to respective wins over Mankato on Thursday, the boys and girls team claimed their thrones as 2024 Big 9 team champions.
This marks the girls’ sixth total Big 9 title since winning the inaugural conference championship in 2026 and their second consecutive conference title after coming into the season as reigning girls champs. The boys team captured its fourth Big 9 title and their first since winning it outright in the 2021 season.
Girls Lacrosse: Owatonna 13, Mankato 3
Ever since facing a 11-10 loss to Rochester Century in the season opener, the Huskies have dominated Big 9 play. They’re only other loss on the season came in a non-conference game against Lakeville North.
The first meeting with Mankato saw the Huskies pull out an 8-6 victory, but Thursday’s meeting at Federated Field was the opposite as Owatonna hoisted the Big 9 title with a convincing 10-goal win.
Madie McGinn netted herself a first quarter hat trick, and with a goal from Addy Schroht and Halle Oldefendt, Owatonna took a 5-2 lead going into the second quarter. Goals from McGinn, Lauren Busho, Alexis Noble, Savannah Wencl and Amelia Moran quickly turned it into a 10-2 lead going into half.
Owatonna limited Mankato to just one goal in the second half, which came in the fourth quarter. Busho and Wencl both tallied their second goals of the night and junior Kadie Schumacher got on the board with her first goal to help seal the victory.
McGinn led in scoring with four goals, Schroht led in points with one goal and four assists for five points and Ellery Blacker picked up four assists. Busho and Wencl had two goals each and Moran, Oldefendt, Noble and Schumacher had a goal each.
Boys Lacrosse: Owatonna 13, Mankato 10
The Owatonna boys lacrosse team took a completely different route from the girls team to win their fourth Big 9 title in Mankato on Thursday.
Owatonna came out of gates with an 0-5 record to start the season after dropping several 1-to-2 goals losses. It wasn’t until the Huskies pulled out a 12-11 win over Mankato in their first meeting that the season quickly turned around for the new conference champs.
The Huskies won out after that first victory and turned the 0-5 record into an 8-5 record to close out the season. Their three-goal win in Mankato was the last domino to fall for them to reclaim the conference throne.
After being tied up 3-3 after the first quarter, the Huskies outscored Mankato 6-1 in the second quarter to take a 9-4 lead going into halftime. Mankato brought it back to three goals in the third quarter, but another three-goal period for both teams kept Owatonna’s lead intact.
Seniors Jack Strom and Caleb Hullopeter led in scoring for the Huskies with four goals each. Sophomore Wyatt Macy recorded a hat trick, while Michael Heitkamp and Trey Hiatt recorded one goal each. Heitkamp recorded a team-high four assists. Senior goalie Justin Beman recorded 10 saves.
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