After graduating 13 seniors, including four All-Americans, Eden Prairie knew some new faces would need to emerge in order to carry over its undefeated streak from 2013, when it went 18-0 to win the state championship. 

After an 8-7 loss to Benilde-St. Maragaret’s in their season opener, a few minor tweaks were all the No. 1 Eagles needed to get back on track.

Nine players scored for the Eagles, and all-purpose attackman Charlie Venable amassed six points in the 16-2 dismantling of Lake conference rival Edina on Thursday at the Eden Prairie Dome.

“We played like a team tonight," Eagles’ coach Ryan Ward said. "Unselfish, better ball possession, we limited the penalties and we limited the turnovers. That was the difference from game one.”

Freshman Nick Leiverman started at attack along with Venable and junior Sean Patterson. The trio worked in sync all evening, totaling 12 points, including Leiverman’s first career goal.

“It’s a pretty good feeling, but I give it all to Venable and Patty on that play, they made great passes -- not much work from me -- just buried it,” said Leiverman about his goal.

Venable ran the ball behind the net and sent Leiverman a pass to his backhand that he brought across in front of Edina goaltender Patrick Jackson and bounced home. 

“He’s been such a great role model, I’ve known him my whole life and this season is going to be a great experience,” Leiverman said about Venable’s leadership role.

Leiverman took a play out of Venable’s book late in the first half; giving a pass from behind the net to fellow freshman Nic Perkins who was crashing in for his first goal.

The Eagles’ defense was the biggest question this season after losing long poles Arik Andreen and Kyle Theilman.

“We’re going to rotate more guys in our defense than last year, and as they progress with more game experience and confidence we can be just as good at defense as we were last year,” said Ward.

"We're small, but we have a lot of energy," senior Ronnie Spielman said about their package defense. "We're fast and we're tough."

All-American goaltender Max Fahey remains one of a few familiar faces on the Eden Prairie defensive end. Fahey made several saves early-on to assure the victory was without question.

Freshman Matt Wasson took over for Fahey in the final quarter. The Hornets fired at will in the final minutes of the game, but Wasson was unfazed making several stops in his 12-minute shutout as the crowd cheered louder for his saves than during Eagles' scoring celebrations.

“The game tempo with no horns took out some of the specialty in the game. You can’t hide players as much, so everybody has to contribute in whatever minutes they get,” Ward said.

Spotlight Game Coverage