Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys lacrosse coach Giuseppe Palermo shot a knowing grin as he discussed the pregame speech heading into Saturday’s state tournament championship game.
“I’ll say this: I didn’t have to say a whole lot,” Palermo said. “The seniors did it.”
Heck, even their words weren’t needed. When Minnesota State High School League officials moved the start time from 6 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. — hoping to avoid disruptive severe weather — they unknowingly set players and fans up for persistent rain.
Frog weather — a good omen for the Red Knights.
The program’s ethos this spring, the FROGS acronym stands for “Forward, Response, One Family, Good, Selflessness.” Those ingredients led to an 18-10 victory against defending state champion Lakeville North and brought the Red Knights a third state title in four seasons.
A year ago, Benilde-St. Margaret’s croaked in the state tournament, squandering a 17-0 record in a semifinal loss to Prior Lake. This time, senior Gus Bell got the Red Knights (18-1) started fast with a hat trick in the first quarter.
Fellow BSM senior Sky Rold kept the pressure on the Panthers (14-5) with a pair of second-half goals.
“Those two guys are a special pair,” Palermo said. “I’ve been coaching this game a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever had two guys on one team who are leaders like them, who are ballers like them. They are unbelievable young men.”