Warriors Athlete of Week: DeRosier’s 8-goal game a first in Brainerd program

042821.S.BD.EthanDeRosierAthlete.jpg — Brainerd Warrior Ethan DeRosier flips the ball into the air Tuesday, April 27, 2021, on the sidelines of the junior varsity lacrosse game at Adamson Field. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch

By Jeremy Millsop

April 28, 2021 at 6:01 AM

It started with a simple bet.

It’s a beat Jacob Holm likely regrets making, however.

“It’s actually weird because I had a weird feeling that I was going to get eight goals and me and my buddy made a bet about me getting eight goals,” Ethan DeRosier said. “So now I get to shoot Jacob Holm in the back with a paintball gun. It’s funny because he fed me the ball quite a bit in that game.”

DeRosier, a junior attacker for the Brainerd Warriors boys’ lacrosse team, reached eight goals to lead Brainerd to a 20-5 victory over Rocori Thursday, April 22. It was the first victory for the Warriors on the season. It was also the most goals Brainerd head coach Adam Extrand has ever watched a player score.

“I don’t know even what to compare it to,” Extrand said. “In my short experience here as the lacrosse coach, I’ve never seen it. I know we’ve played against guys who have put up several goals, but I don’t recall anyone getting eight. You might see four or five and then it seems like they spread it around a little bit or maybe put somebody else in for a bit.”

BIG GAME: Boys Lacrosse: DeRosier, Warriors outscore Rocori
DeRosier’s favorite goal was when he was running around the crease and Holm hit him with a pass. He came around the corner and scored the goal. Extrand said most of the eight goals came from close range.

“He was camped out pretty close to the front of the net and either Jacob Holm or Sam Madison or others were dishing it to him and he would catch it and just make a quick shot,” Extrand said. “It was nothing fancy. He wasn’t winding up for a big hard shot. He basically just gave a flick of the wrist and most of the shots that he scored on, he bounced them in. That was intentional because it’s hard for the goalies to pick those up.”

DeRosier said he was feeling good even before the game started, which prompted the “friendly” bet. He said the team was happy to get a win and he was happy for teammate Dawson Piepho, who also scored a goal earlier in the game.

But even he admitted getting eight goals in one game is an accomplishment.

“I think it’s pretty good for Brainerd,” DeRosier. “I was really hyped. I was getting into the zone. I was getting dialed in, listening to music. I think we were pretty confident. I had a really good practice beforehand. I was just able to bring it to the game.”

When it was announced last year’s spring season would be canceled, Extrand was quick to send out videos and workouts to his players in hopes they would continue to improve their skill sets. DeRosier jumped at the opportunity. That offseason work coupled with his athleticism is what makes DeRosier a scoring threat.

“My older son talks all the time about how athletic Ethan is and he’s right,” Extrand said. “The more and more you watch him you can see his speed and calmness. We had a video of the game and we watched it again and he made it look effortless.

“Rocori is young and for us to put up those kinds of numbers, it’s never happened before to that extent. It will be interesting because we missed Ethan against St. Cloud earlier this season, but we’ll have him Thursday when we play them again. It will be interesting to see if he continues to score. I’m not expecting him to get eight, but I do expect him to score. I’m just not sure they’re going to come as easily as they did last week.”

Another attribute Extrand noticed when watching DeRosier is his field awareness. The junior has a knack for finding open space.

“For goal scorers, I don’t think it matters between hockey, lacrosse, or even basketball, for guys who score they just know where to put themselves and he has that,” Extrand said. “He finds those little pockets where he is open. Plus, it was some real heady play by the other attackers and (midfielders) to find him. He had two goals where he beat some guys, one for sure, but for the most part, a lot of his goals came from guys finding him and passing it to him and then Ethan catching it and then scoring with a real quick release. It was nothing fancy. But he knows where to put the ball.”

PREVIEW: Boys Lacrosse: New players and returners hope to build Warrior lacrosse more
DeRosier first joined lacrosse in eighth grade when one of his friends said he was going to try it. The friend never signed up, but DeRosier has excelled every year since. He said even with the year away from competition he was able to improve his skills.

“It’s actually a pretty easy sport to practice by yourself,” DeRosier said. “You can play wall ball and then just shoot at a net. It helps.

“This last offseason I was shooting a lot. I’d put up two cones and make moves on those and practice running around and shooting and cradling. Your hand-eye coordination needs to be really good so I did a lot of passing and shooting.”

DeRosier admitted he doesn’t think he can score eight goals again. Extrand said he’s just happy to have the junior back.

“Without having a season last spring it was really apparent that he worked on his game,” Extrand said. “Again, he’s very athletic. I know the football coaches have spoken to me about his athleticism and are excited for next fall with him. He’s a well-rounded athlete. He’s got speed, quickness and again, there is no panic in him. He just plays with complete confidence.”

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

Other notable performances

Hanna Caughey, girls track and field, won the shot put and discus against Willmar.
Brenna Deason, girls track and field, won the 100-meter dash and pole vault against Willmar.
Breya Sawyer, girls lacrosse, scored four goals in a win over Rocori. She tallied two more against St. Cloud.
Brynne Folden, girls lacrosse, scored four goals in a win over Rocori. She tallied two more against St. Cloud.
Erik Stoxen, boys golf, was co-individual medalist at the Pequot Lakes Early Bird invite at Cragun’s Legacy Courses with a 76.
Karisa Kroll, softball, finished 5-7 with an RBI in two wins over Rocori.
Olivia Tautges, softball, finished 5-7 with a triple, two runs and three RBIs in two wins over Rocori. She also struck out five in two innings of perfect relief in Game Two. She finished 2-4 with two runs and an RBI against Centennial.
Emma Tautges, softball, struck out seven and scattered four hits over seven innings in a shutout win over Rocori. She was 2-4 with two runs and an RBI in the second game against Rocori. She was 2-3 with a run and two RBIs against Centennial.
Josie Kappes, softball, finished 3-3 with two runs against Rocori.