Lakeville North junior lacrosse standout Carson Piscitiello beat twin brother Blake into this world by a mere 90 seconds.
The brothers engaged in a bit of sibling rivalry in Thursday's first state tournament semifinal played at Chaska High School and fueled a 17-5 Panthers blowout of Stillwater.
Carson struck first and Blake got on the board next to give defending state champion North a 2-0 lead with less than five minutes to play in the opening quarter. Carson wasn't finished. He tallied a hat trick with two additional goals in the final minute of quarter one.
Later in the first half, the score read Piscitiellos 8 and the No. 2 seed Ponies zero.
"Today was the ideal scenario. We started fast — we wanted to throw the first punch. And if either my brother or me get going, the other one wants to get going," said Carson, who entered Thursday's game leading the Panthers with 44 assists. Blake entered with team bests of 76 goals and 99 points. "We spark each other, and our competitiveness is for the better of our team."
No. 3 seed Lakeville North (14-4) dispatched Stillwater (15-3) and Ponies coach Peter Flockcame away impressed with the Panthers' twin engines.
"First and foremost, they are incredibly intelligent players," he said. "Everything you try against them — they could adjust to our adjustments."
The Panthers earned a state tournament showdown with No. 1 seed Benilde-St. Margaret's (17-1). The teams advanced to the championship game, scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at Eden Prairie High School.
The Red Knights grounded Eden Prairie 11-7 and prevented No. 5 seed Eagles (12-6) from continuing a surprise postseason run and enjoying home-field advantage.
Senior Gus Bell scored to give his team a 3-2 lead and later completed his hat trick before halftime. A Red Knights fan greeted Bell just outside the concession stand and told him, "I could use about three more of those."
Bell wouldn't score again, but he didn't need to. He could rely on talented teammates to make second half scoring contributions. Sophomore Holton Vanderlinde finished a hat trick in the second half, and senior Hunter Payer scored twice.
Benilde-St. Margaret's posted a 9-8 victory on May 2 at Lakeville North.
