TOWN AND COUNTRY –Andrew Mullen understood that slow starts were the nemesis of the Parkway South boys lacrosse team.
In their seven losses this season, the Patriots were outscored by 34 goals in the first half, including a four-goal deficit incurred to Wentzville during an overtime loss in early April.
“We were serious in the locker room,” Mullen said of the Patriots’ pregame preparation. “We got dialed in and we were in the zone. We couldn’t let what happened last time, happen again.”
Mullen, Peter Murphy and Andrew Delanty each scored hat tricks in the opening 20 minutes as Parkway South used a blistering start to cruise past Wentzville 16-7 and win the Class 1 Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association state championship Wednesday at Missouri Baptist University.
Parkway South (11-7), which recorded assists on 11 of its 16 goals, also received a brilliant, 12-save performance from sophomore goalie Henry Burkemper, which included four excellent stops in the opening three minutes.
“He has absolutely been standing on his head since the second half of the season,” Parkway South coach Andy Kunkemueller said of Burkemper. “Without him playing the way he did, I think the game is a little bit different.”
Burkemper denied several chances from Wentzville’s dynamic duo, Jackson Meyer and Mitch Menke, who had combined for 139 goals coming into the game. His goalkeeping, along with a stellar defensive performance from senior Beckett White, helped hold Meyer and Menke to one goal apiece through the first three quarters.
“They are tough, hard dodgers. I usually rely a lot on my stick to win the ball, but I relied on getting to their body, turning them around and denying that top side, and I found success with that,” White said.
A signature moment came early in the first quarter when White caused a turnover and then dodged, pinballed and sidestepped past several, ill-intentioned Wentzville players to advance the ball past midfield.
“That was a fun clear,” White said.
The fun for the offense also started quickly. A dropped pass in the Wentzville offensive zone was scooped by White and resulted in a Mullen fast break goal 46 seconds into the contest. Delanty scored to make it 2-0, and when Mullen spotted an open Delanty one minute later, the Patriots were off and running.
“The cuts were there tonight,” Mullen said. “We were seeing it, and we were just finding each other.”
A 15-yard sling from Eli Mesina, a wraparound from Murphy and the second goal of the quarter by Mullen gave Parkway South a commanding 6-2 lead after the first 12 minutes.
“They came out with a good game plan and they jumped us early,” Wentzville coach Chris Benton said. “They did a good job on Menke and Meyer. Their goalie played tremendously well. You have to tip your hat, they played really hard.”
And Parkway South did not decelerate in the second quarter. An errant pass from deep in the Wentzville offensive zone bounded to midfield, where Murphy snagged a tricky bounce and scored on a breakaway. It triggered a four-goal blitz, an 11-3 lead, and hat tricks for Murphy, Mullen and Delanty with 5:08 still remaining the second quarter.
“We usually come out to slow starts, so we knew we had to come out firing. We had music in the locker room, we were getting hyped up, and we made sure we were the team that started fast,” said Murphy, who led Parkway South with five goals and four assists and took home the Most Valuable Player award.
And the Patriots’ pregame hype did not equate to undisciplined play. Parkway South did not enter the penalty box until midway through the third quarter, and Menke promptly scored for Wentzville nine seconds into the man-up situation.
But at even-strength, Wentzville (13-6) could not find the framework of the cage.
“Unfortunately, I think we were squeezing our sticks a little too tight,” Benton said. “We’re a high-powered offense and we picked a bad night to have our worst shooting night.”
Parkway South finished with a 2-12 record in 2023 and lost first round playoff games to Marquette and Clayton the previous two years. The growth of the team, both individually and collectively, placed the Patriots in position to excel on a championship stage.
“This has been in the making since our freshman year. This group of guys are really close, our chemistry has gotten better and better, and it all culminated into this season and this game,” White said.
Mullen, who attended Vianney as a freshman, capped his senior year as the second leading scorer in the area with 61 goals and 29 assists. The Patriots’ playoff run became the perfect capstone to his stellar high school career.
“I had not won a playoff game my whole life until this year and I was not satisfied with that at all,” Mullen said. “I just left it all out on the field. I wasn’t going to leave with any regrets.”
For a full photo gallery of this game visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/2024-Boys-Lacrosse/Boys-Lacrosse-2025/Class-1-championship-Parkway-South-vs-Wentzville
