Rivalry brings out the best in the Jaguars

Morgan Hespenheide took up lacrosse as a 12-year-old, after a younger sibling attended a lacrosse clinic.

It looked like fun, so she thought she'd try it. Six years later, she's a stalwart as a center midfielder and captain for the Bloomington Jefferson girls' lacrosse team and a key reason why the Jaguars were able to upset arch-rival Bloomington Kennedy 12-6 in the Section 3 semifinals. The Jaguars qualified for their first state tournament three days later with an 11-9 championship game victory over Eagan/Rosemount.

Hespenheide talked about her how much the victory over Kennedy meant to the Jefferson program.

Q Why did playing lacrosse appeal to you?

A It happened right away. We had some really fun youth league coaches. They brought water balloons and things like that.

Q Last week, your team beat Kennedy in the section semifinals. Kennedy was undefeated and the top seed in the section. How big was that victory?

A It's a really big deal. It's the first time in the history of the school that we've beaten them.

A I think it was when we were going out before the game. We all decided that we weren't ready to be done playing yet. We wanted to go out and play our hardest. It turned out to be the best game we've ever played.

Q Was there any extra motivation to beat Kennedy because they are big rivals and you've never beaten them before?

A Yeah. It makes it bigger because you see them in the offseason. There's friendly competitiveness.

Q At what point did you realize that the game might be different than other games against Kennedy?

A When we scored the first goal of the game. I don't think that's ever happened before. We've never scored the first goal against them.

A We said that we had come this far, there was no point in losing to a team that we had already beaten. We knew they were going to come out playing way harder than they did the first time we played them, but we were ready. It just put the icing on the cake.

Q Which victory was more gratifying: beating Kennedy or winning the section championship?

A Probably beating Kennedy. That was a milestone victory for our program. That was my goal and our whole team's goal.

Q What are your goals for the upcoming state tournament?

A Well, obviously we want to win it, but our main goal is to play as well as we have during the season and work harder than we ever have and hopefully that will be enough.

A This is our best season ever. It's been very successful, not just on the field but in how our team has come together. I feel like we've become a great group of friends. And I don't think any of us have had this much fun playing lacrosse.