J.D. Spielman was trapped -- surrounded by defenders. He had nowhere to go. Heck, he didn’t even have his stick.

“The ball was in my stick, I dropped my stick,” said Spielman, Eden Prairie’s sophomore midfielder. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is not good.’ I was thinking, ‘We are going to lose.’ ”

Time was running out -- less than a minute left and the clock winding down fast -- and the Eagles trailed Wayzata by a goal. Spielman wasn’t likely to score if he didn’t have his stick. He wasn’t likely to score even if he did have his stick, given that he had attracted a swarm of Trojans defenders – like moths to a streetlight.

“Then I picked my stick back up, and I just kept running for my life,” Spielman said after the No. 3-ranked Eagles’ highly improbable 5-4 win over No. 7 Wayzata on Monday at Wayzata High School. “I found a little opening, just ran, shot it and put it in.”

Spielman’s amazing play, more a magician’s great escape than a goal, tied the score with 35 seconds left. Now it was senior midfielder Ben Campbell’s turn to hoist the game on his shoulders.

“That was pretty crazy,” Campbell said about Spielman’ tying goal. “After I saw that I was was thinking, ‘Gotta win the faceoff.’ If we lose that, the game is over. It was nerve wracking.”

Campbell, a senior midfielder, did more than win the draw. He scooped the ball and raced untouched straight at the Wayzata goal. A faceoff specialist not known for his scoring touch, Campbell unloaded just before colliding with a Trojans defender.

“Luckily it bounced around and found an opening,” Campbell said about his winning goal with 23 seconds remaining. The goal was Campbell’s first of the season. He scored one in 18 games last season. Maybe this is why Wayzata didn’t seem too concerned with Campbell sprinting into scoring position.

“I was in shock,” Spielman said with a laugh about Campbell’s winning goal. “Because, as we know with Campbell, we don’t want him shooting. So when he did shoot, I was kind of bent over and went, ‘Oh my gosh.’ 

“And then when it did go in I just had to throw my hands up and start screaming.”

Eden Prairie coach Ryan Ward wasn’t sure what to think about the victory. He loved the final 30 seconds, of course, but not much else beyond Campbell. 

“He had some great plays, actually,” Ward said about his faceoff specialist. “He was probably the bright spot in that game. His faceoffs, his poise, Ben Campbell has been really good for us this year. And he got the game winner, so good for him.”


Eden Prairie sophomore J.D. Spielman scored three goals in the Eagles' victory over Wayzata on Monday. Photo by Brian W Nelson

First Report

J.D. Spielman and Ben Campbell scored in the final 35 seconds as No. 3-ranked Eden Prairie, the defending state champion, rallied to beat No. 7 Wayzata 5-4 on Monday at Wayzata High School.

Eden Prairie (2-1) led 3-2 entering the fourth quarter, the go-ahead goal coming from Spielman with about 4 minutes left in the third quarter.

Then a game that was all about tight defense and an abundance of turnovers got a little crazy. Goals 51 seconds apart by Ben Von Stein and Alex Campbell put Wayzata (2-1) ahead 4-3. The score stayed that way until the closing seconds, when Spielman somehow managed to elude a pack of Trojans defenders on his way to a most improbable goal. The sophomore midfielder’s third goal of the game came with 35 seconds left.

Eden Prairie's Campbell, a senior midfielder, put the finishing touches on the win by controlling the ensuing faceoff – he was dominant on faceoffs all game – and then running the ball down the middle of the field before finally firing a hard shot past Wayzata goaltender Aaron Peterson with 23 seconds remaining.

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