Benilde St. Margaret’s took down Lakeville North 18-10 at Chaska High School on Saturday to win the Class A boys lacrosse state championship.

Benilde attacker Gus Bell led the way for the Red Knights with six goals, followed by midfielder Sky Rold’s five goals and one assist. Lakeville attacker Carson Piscitiello scored three goals while attacker Blake Piscitiello and midfielder Lane Johnson logged two goals and one assist apiece.

“It means everything,” said Benilde head coach Giuseppe Palermo. “This group of guys is one special group and the way they drew all season long put it together. I knew that was going to happen today.”

Bell set the tone early with three straight unanswered goals to give Benilde a 3-0 lead with five minutes to go in the first quarter. The Red Knights put two more points on the board to the Panthers’ one to end the first quarter with a 5-1 lead.

“I knew we had to set the tone early,” said Bell of his three goals. “They have a great team and we had to take it to him right away. I just decided that we’re gonna win this game at the beginning.”

Lakeville immediately responded with three straight goals to trim the Benilde lead down to one just three minutes into the second quarter. Rold dominated the next five minutes with three goals to give the Red Knights an 8-4 lead. Lakeville’s Blake Piscitiello scored off the Henry Johnson assist right before the half as Benilde held the 8-5 lead heading into the break.

“We stayed on course,” said Palermo. “Lacrosse is a game of runs. We know that.”

After Benilde extended the lead to 10-5 right out of halftime, Lakeville went on a 3-1 stretch to shorten the Red Knights lead to 11-8 through the first eight minutes of the third quarter. Benilde came back with three unanswered goals — two in the last 17 seconds of the quarter — to enter the final 12 minutes of play with a 14-8 lead.

Carson Piscitiello netted his third goal of the game just 16 seconds into the fourth quarter, immediately followed up by Bell’s fifth goal of the game to cancel it out. The Red Knights held the momentum the rest of the way, outshooting the Panthers 3-1 the rest of the way to clinch the state title.

“It’s incredible,” said Bell. “I don’t even have any words to describe it right now. I’m just ecstatic for our boys and for our team.”

“It’s one of the best days of my life, that’s for sure,” said Rold. “I grew up with most of these kids. I’ve been playing with them since I was in third grade. It was the closest team I’ve ever played with and I’ll never forget.”

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