Warriors Athlete of Week: Brainerd’s DeRosier demoralizing defenses

BRAINERD -- Ethan DeRosier needs to set tougher goals for himself.

He entered the 2022 boys’ lacrosse season with a goal of scoring 30 goals.

“I wanted to get good leadership going as a captain and guide this team,” DeRosier said. “My personal goals were I wanted to get more than 30 goals and I got well over that, which I’m proud of. I couldn’t have done that without my team.”

DeRosier is well above 30 goals as he has 46 goals this season heading into the Section 8 playoffs.

It doesn’t hurt when you get a school-record nine goals in one game. The big game came Monday, May 16, in a 16-7 victory over Big Lake. DeRosier broke his own school record which was eight goals.

“It was just good team chemistry all the way around,” DeRosier said. “The defense was doing a good job of getting the ball to the offense. The goalie was making a lot of saves in net and we just worked the ball around.”

A day later, DeRosier and the Warriors outlasted the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks 8-7. It was a three-overtime game and DeRosier scored four goals and then assisted Cole Makow on the game-winner.

“He’s by far our leading scorer and Jacob Holm plays the X position behind the goal and those two really work well together,” Brainerd head coach Adam Extrand said. “If you look at our goals those two get the majority of our goals with Ethan getting most of them. They just work really well and are able to isolate defenders and then Ethan is just so incredibly quick and athletic that most teams are unable to find an answer to shut him down.”

DeRosier called the teamwork between himself, Holm and the third attacker Taylor Madison as “Lights out.” He said the key is chemistry and off-ball movement.

“It starts with his quickness and he can shoot well,” Extrand said. “He can anticipate how defenders are going to play him. When he makes a pass, he’s good at getting into open space and looking for the pass back on a cut. As far as his shooting, he knows where to place the ball to score. Some players can shoot well but it seems like they don’t score very often. Ethan just has a knack and skill of knowing where to place the ball when he shoots.”

In a loss to Monticello to close out the regular season May 20, DeRosier registered two of Brainerd’s goals and assisted on the third. The Warriors will enter the section playoffs with a 6-6 record.

DeRosier is really pushing the team mantra and Extrand says he backs it up with his passing ability. Extrand said if lacrosse kept statistics like hockey, DeRosier would have a lot more points.

“He sees the field well because he does make some tremendous passes,” Extrand said. “Guys in lacrosse don’t get a lot of credit for their assists, but he does set up other players a lot whether it’s Jacob or Taylor. He sees the offensive part of the field very well.”

As an attacker, DeRosier can only play on the offensive end of the field, but Brainerd switches the senior up and plays him in the midfield at times to utilize DeRosier’s quickness and athleticism even more.

“Ethan is one of our captains and they’re all tremendous leaders,” Extrand said. “During the offseason, primarily during the winter, Ethan was a big part of getting captains practices together. Ethan’s dad even helped out with that because I can’t have contact with the guys during the winter season.

“He’s a great leader and he’ll be missed. Not just his scoring, but his leadership, his character and his personality. He’s the whole package. He’s a great high school athlete and not just his skill set, but all of it.”

DeRosier said he’s getting into a do-or-die mindset as playoffs loom closer. Whatever happens in the postseason, DeRosier is proud of how many program firsts this team has accomplished.

“I wanted this team to be successful and create history for this program like having more wins in a season than ever before, which we did,” DeRosier said. “I wanted back-to-back wins which are a first for the program, too. I am definitely amazed at what we’ve done this year. When I first started, we could barely work the ball around. Now, we can move the ball around pretty well and our defense is solid. I’m happy for D. They’re just getting their job done.

“This year has been phenomenal. Every game we go into we feel like we have a chance to win. The whole team is on the same page and we want to win and we are just competitive.”

JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.

Ethan DeRosier

Sport: Lacrosse

Position: Attacker

Year: Senior

Age: 18

Height: 6-foot-1

Career highlight: Nine-goal game against Big Lake

Other sports: Football

Grade-point average: 3.0

Favorite class: Gym

Favorite food: Barbecue wings

Favorite movie: “American Sniper”

Favorite website or app: Instagram

Favorite restaurant: Buffalo Wild Wings

Future plans: Undecided

Favorite athlete: Bo Jackson

Parents: Randy and Kathy DeRosier

Other notable performances