Senior attackman Charlie Venable scored six goals in No.3-ranked Eden Prairie's 12-6 victory over Eastview on Thursday at Eden Prairie High School, but it was the Eagles on the defensive side of the ball that also played a huge role. 

With the exception of senior midfielder Michael Stillings, who scored five goals for the Lightning (6-7), Eden Prairie (11-2) held Eastview’s offense in check.The Eagles allowed just one other goal scorer among the other 31 players on the Eastview roster. 

Eden Prairie coach Ryan Ward said the Eagles' defense played tight on Eastview’s forwards and eventually learned their lesson with Stillings. 

“Our guys played hard,” Ward said. “They made it tough on those other guys to get any opportunities, and we cleared the ball pretty well. They had one guy who was lights out tonight. If we play them again, obviously we have to game plan for him a little differently.”

The Eagles' defense has allowed just one team to score more than eight goals this season. This is impressive given that the back line lost key players to graduation, including four-year varsity player Arik Andreen. The heart and soul of the Eagles defensive squad, though, is senior goalie Max Fahey. The Indiana recruit is sporting a 5.14 goals against average, with a .579 save percentage this season. 

Ward said Fahey is always there to rely on if the defense slips up.

“He’s our backbone back there,” Ward said. “If the (defense) makes a mistake or whatever, he’s usually pretty good to bail us out. He gets the job done. He controls that defense, so he’s one of the most valuable players for sure.”

Fahey started in net last year for the Eagles in an 18-0 state championship season culminated by a title-game win over Eastview. Midfielder Sam Fuller, who was also on the state championship team, said Fahey’s experience shows. 

“Max is just a brick wall,” Fuller said. “He’s been in there the last two years. He’s one of the best in the state, and he shows it every game.” 

The men who are in front of Fahey assist in his success as well. Two of three starting defenders are Jackson Zaugg and Cole Froemming, a freshman and a sophomore respectively. Fahey said the men in front of him are adapting pretty well. 

“They’re amazing stepping in,” Fahey said. “It’s a lot of stuff to learn when you first jump in. It’s a big step up from freshman to varsity, so they’re doing great.”

Thursday's game was Eden Prairie's seaon finale. Eden Prairie heads into the Section 2 playoffs riding a seven-game win streak. Ward said for the Eagles to repeat as state champions and get Eden Prairie's second state title, the team can’t get too ahead of itself.

“We’re not trying to look too far down the road, we’re just trying to get better each practice and each game,” Ward said. “We’re working through different scenarios and challenging our guys to think the game through more and learn more. Trying to get some complimentary scoring and guys doing some other roles. If we do that, we can be a really, really dangerous team and basically beat anybody.”

Fahey also said the team just needs to take it slow, but he is confident in himself and his teammates.

“We’ll take it step by step, but I have a pretty good feeling about this team.”


Eden Prairie's Charlie Venable (4) fires a shot past Eastview defenseman Zach McKenzie (17) and Lightning goaltender Jeremy LeClaire. Photo by Loren Nelson

First Report

Senior attackman Charlie Venable scored six goals to lead No.3-ranked Eden Prairie to a 12-6 victory over Eastview in a rematch of last year’s state championship game on Thursday night at Eden Prairie High School. 

Eastview (6-7) lost despite a five goal performance by senior midfielder Michael Stillings. The only other scorer for the Lighting was junior midfielder Joel Iverson. 

Midway through the second quarter Eastview scored three unanswered goals to tie the score 4-4. Eden Prairie (11-2) scored two goals before halftime to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead after the second quarter.

The Lighting scored the first goal coming out of the break, but defending state champion Eden Prairie scored five goals in a row, including three from Venable.

Junior attackman Sean Patterson and sophomore midfielder JD Spielman each scored two goals for Eden Prairie.

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