Eden Prairie’s J.D. Spielman was sprawled on the turf with time running out in overtime. He had the ball in his stick and, as it turned out, a swarm of Wayzata defenders right where he wanted them.

Spielman, a sophomore midfielder, added to his bulging portfolio of clutch goals by popping back up off the turf, knifing through the Trojans’ defense and scoring with 35 seconds left in the sudden-death extra session to lead the No. 2-seeded Eagles past the unseeded Trojans 8-7 on Thursday in a boys’ lacrosse state semifinal at Chanhassen High School.

No. 3 state-ranked Eden Prairie, the defending state champion, advances to Saturday’s title game at 7 p.m. at Chanhassen High. The Eagles (16-2) have reached the state championship game in six of the eight years the tournament has been sponsored by the MSHSL. No. 9-ranked Wayzata (13-5) will play in Saturday’s third-place game.

“After I got back up I knew there was time left,” Spielman, who has committed to play at Ohio State, said about his winning goal. 

After recovering from his spill, well, Spielman is at his best when he’s improvising. His instincts took over. That’s a good thing for the Eagles.

“I don’t know, I just threw it,” he said about his winning shot. “I didn’t know where it was going.”

Eden Prairie has had this type of finish before. Lots of times. Spielman scored with 12.4 seconds left in last year’s state title game as the Eagles beat Eastview 9-8 for their first state championship. He also scored the winning goal with 42 seconds left in a 6-5 triumph over Blake earlier this season.

“I guess the first phrase that comes to mind is ‘Who else?’ ” Eden Prairie coach Ryan Ward said about Spielman’s winner. “He’s a big game player, probably the best big-game player I’ve ever seen. We rely on him for a lot.”

The goal was Spielman’s fourth of the game, and it ended an Eagles scoreless drought that spanned 27 minutes, 40 seconds – including all of the third and fourth quarters.

Spielman scored in similar fashion against Wayzata earlier this season. The Eagles beat the Trojans 5-4 on April 21, but only after Spielman scored with 35 seconds left to tie the score. He dropped his stick before scoring that goal, which also required that he pick himself off the turf and weave through a mass of defenders.

“I think he does it on purpose,” Eden Prairie senior attackman Charlie Venable said about Spielman, who has 48 goals this season, including six in the state tournament. “ ‘Okay, I’m going to fall.’ Then he gets up, and he is gone.

“He’s just an athlete. He’s a freak of nature.”

First Report

Sophomore midfielder J.D. Spielman scored with 35 seconds left in sudden-death overtime to lift No. 2-seeded Eden Prairie to an 8-7 victory over unseeded Wayzata on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the state boys’ lacrosse tournament at Chanhasssen High School.

The victory sends No. 2 seed Eden Prairie (16-2) to the state championship game for the sixth time in the eight years the tournament has been sponsored by the MSHSL. Spielman scored with 12.4 seconds left in last year’s state title game as the Eagles beat Eastview 9-8 for their first state championship.

A scoreless fourth quarter ended with Spielman unloading two shots in the closing seconds. He missed wide with the first, and Wayzata goaltender Aaron Peterson made a stick save as the horn sounded on the second.

Wayzata’s Grant Long and Charlie Chermak scored the only goals of the third quarter as the Trojans tied the score at 7.

Spielman scored three times in the opening half, including back-to-back goals in the third quarter as No. 3 state-ranked Eden Prairie took a 6-3 lead.

Senior Charlie Venable’s second goal of the first half put Eden Prairie in front 7-4 with 3:38 left in the half, but No. 9-ranked Wayzata (13-5) closed to within one on a long-range shot by Long.

Chermak and Alex Campbell also scored in the second quarter for the No. 9-ranked Trojans.

The 12 first-half goals came as a surprise, given that both teams have relied heavily all season on airtight defenses and stellar goaltending. Both the Trojans and the Eagles scored most of their goals on shots from 12-yards out and beyond, picking corners or unloading bounce shots to beat goaltenders Max Fahey of Eden Prairie and Aaron Peterson of Wayzata.

The teams split their regular season meetings. Eden Prairie beat Wayzata 5-4 on April 21 at Wayzata, and the Trojans won 8-6 on May 1 in Eden Prairie.

-- Loren Nelson