The Owatonna Girls Lacrosse team was showing their strength on a six game stretch. They dominated all their opponents, with offense dismantling opposing teams defensive schemes. However, their toughest opponent in the Big 9 conference, Mankato, put Owatonna to the test.

The game overall was a battle of defense. The game put the Huskies’ offense to the ultimate test on how explosive they really were. Mankato would disrupt passes and would not give up any wide open shots on net. Juniors Jasmynn Stechmann, Jade Huseby and Kenna West found the net only once, but this was not enough, as Owatonna fell to Mankato 4-3. Owatonna had beaten them once before in late game dramatics, but this one was anyone’s game.

This posed a challenge to Owatonna in how they would approach the Big 9, as this loss in the conference moves them into second place in the conference. Senior captain Amy Oldenburg, however, has not lost hope. Oldenburg said, “Since we aren’t sure where we finally stand I’m going to go as hard as I can and try to help the attack as much as possible.” The Huskies will have to win the next two games against both Rochester teams, Century and John Marshall to tie Mankato’s record in the Big 9.

The Huskies played Century (2-7-0) on May 19 in Owatonna, and went on the road to play John Marshall (3-6-0) on May 25 in Rocheste. Both times, the Huskies met these teams, they had beaten them both. If successful, they would have been co-champions of Big 9. However, John Marshall proved to be a bigger challenge than anyone expected, managing to stop every ball the Huskies tried to get to the net. After emerging from their game with a score of 10-7, the team placed second overall in Big 9.

The Huskies, now ranked at fifth in the section, are more dedicated than ever to improve their teamwork. They beat Mankato 2-1 and will face Farmington who is the number one seed in the conference on Friday.