Spring appears to have taken a break from peaking, but Eden Prairie's offense is already in midseason form.

The cold temperatures on Tuesday night did little to deter the hot scoring in the Eagles 21-8 victory against Lakeville North at Lakeville North High School.

Last season the Panthers knocked off the Eagles in the state semifinals. Eden Prairie was the top-ranked team heading into the tournament and had appeared in all six previous state championship games sponsored by the MSHSL.

"We wanted to avenge what happened last year," Eagles forward Heidi Colford said. "They beat us for a chance at a championship, so there was something special about this one."

Colford did her part with six goals for Eden Prairie, four coming in the first half.

"She is a senior, so she has some experience and played really well tonight," Eagles co-head coach Judy Baxter said. "She has a left-handed shot, which is to her advantage, and she made the most of it."

Eden Prairie scored the first six goals and did so in less than six minutes. The Eagles led 12-3 at halftime.

Draws were big for the Eagles, who dominated early on and were able to set their plays.

"That was one thing we wanted to do first was win those (draws)," Colford said. "It got us to warm up and get our juices flowing."

Midway through the second half the Panthers went on a run and reduced a 12-goal deficit down to singe digits.

Baxter decided it was time to call a timeout and get everyone back on track.

"We just had to fix a few things and get our players back on the same page," she said. "Lakeville (North) were winning draws, and I didn't even have to say anything. Our players were saying that we had to win them."

It was the first game of the season for both the Eagles and Panthers. The brisk temperatures signaled an early season game.

"It was pretty cold out there, but we are just happy to be playing instead of having games cancelled already," Colford said. "We've played in cold weather before, and I think that we just get used to it."

"We've played in this before, but you just have to be happy to be playing," Baxter said.


Lakeville North forward Brooke Genzler works her way around the Eden Prairie defense in a 21-8 loss for the Panthers. Photo by Rick Orndorf

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