Lacrosse: Farmington’s Will Harris and Rochester Mayo’s Evan Strain command possession battles

The possession battle is one of lacrosse’s most crucial elements — and Farmington’s Will Harris and Rochester Mayo’s are two of Minnesota’s most dominant possessional specialists this season.

“Look at the stats of college teams, high school teams … winning those [battles] gives you a huge advantage statistically to win a game,” Farmington boys lacrosse coach Mitch Grengs said.

The specialist position itself is one of the starkest contrasts between boys and girls lacrosse. Both begin games at midfield, returning to the same spot after goals. But boys lacrosse features faceoffs, girls lacrosse has draws.

On faceoffs, a referee places the ball on the ground between two players, and they jockey for possession with stickwork and body leverage. Draw takers stand upright with the ball placed between their stick heads. At a whistle’s cue, they lift their sticks and attempt to flick the ball to a desired space.

These skills require force, finesse, mental fortitude and consistency. Teams often designate a player as their “face off, get off” (FOGO) or draw specialist.

Strain, the state’s draw control leader, became the first player this season to surpass 100 draw controls. She accomplished that feat in 10 games, pulling down 115 draw controls in that span.

Harris’ faceoff prowess has been an integral component of Farmington’s 13-0 record in 2025. The sophomore specialist has won nearly 80% of his faceoffs this season, including winning 17 of 18 in a 10-3 upset of Lakeville North on May 6.

Strain has commanded Minnesota draw circles from the moment she became Rochester Mayo’s primary draw taker in 2024, but the senior midfielder began her high school career as a goalkeeper.

She was no run-of-the-mill netminder, either, amassing 234 saves and a 64.1% save percentage as a sophomore in 2023. But as Strain connected with college coaches, she realized her prospects were greater in the field than between the pipes. With elite height at 5-10, Strain presented a potential game-breaking element on draws.

“It was a rough start, but I became addicted to getting better at it,” Strain said. “It was really just about finding what worked for me and just mastering the craft of it.”

Strain committed to Division II William Jewell College in December 2023. Although she’d yet to take a high school draw at that juncture, Strain’s conversations with the program’s coaching staff centered around her ability in the possession game.

Harris’ path to becoming an elite faceoff specialist began with a simple competition in a club practice. He had a knack for the possession game and soon cultivated a daily regimen for honing his craft. From eighth grade on, Harris has taken varsity faceoffs for the Tigers.

“I just love that feeling of winning that face and helping my team out,” Harris said. “The big part of how I’ve gotten so good is just the consistency of my workouts. I’ve done it so much now that it’s just become a habit at this point.”

While faceoffs and draws demand unquestionable skill, they also test an athlete’s mental strength. When specialists lose, they have mere moments to collect themselves before their next rep. This can spiral into a string of faceoff or draw losses.

“In lacrosse, you have to have short-term memory,” Rochester Mayo girls lacrosse coach Caroline Curran said. “Just get back to the next play, the next draw.”

Early in his high school career, Harris tended to lose his composure following faceoff losses. Harris said he’s at his best when he’s calm and focused, and he has consistently aimed to control his emotions.

Now, he’s turned to the hit Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” for a personal mantra.

“I saw this quote by Ted Lasso: ‘Be a goldfish,’” Harris said. “You’ve just got to forget about it and go to the next one. You can always go back to look at the film, but you have to forget about it and reset your mind.”

Strain developed her own goldfish mentality during her time as a goalkeeper. She said one of her goalkeeper coaches instilled a process of reflect, reset and move on.

“That’s how I feel taking the draw now, especially if I wanted it to go somewhere and it didn’t, I couldn’t reach one or my stick gets checked before I could get there,” Strain said. “It’s just like, ‘OK, now I know what she’s trying to do.’ I can either counteract that or I can go with her and just get to that spot before she does.”

Next spring, Strain will compete for immediate playing time in one of the nation’s top Division II lacrosse conferences.

Before she heads off to Liberty, Mo., Strain wants to help share tips and tricks she’s picked up from experience and observing top draw specialists with her younger teammates.

“I’m very excited for the challenge to play some of those top teams like Maryville, Rockhurst and UIndy,” Strain said. “It’s nerve-racking, but I’m very excited to challenge myself and see if I can eventually put up some of the same stats I have in high school.”

Harris has two high school seasons remaining, but he’s just months away from a hectic recruiting period.

This past summer, Harris trained with Farmington grad and University of Utah faceoff specialist Tyler Kloeckl. There, he saw the standard required to compete at the collegiate level. It’s a goal Harris strives to achieve.

“Seeing how I can compete out on the [East Coast] and dominating in the Minnesota, Midwest area, I feel like I have a good chance, but I just gotta keep grinding,” he said.