The Eden Prairie girls’ lacrosse team had encountered a deficit as large as the one it faced in Saturday’s state championship game against Blake only one other time this season. It was in the Eagles’ sole loss, to out-of-state Loyola Academy.

But Eden Prairie (18-1) had not won the past two state titles by panicking. After giving up the game’s first three goals, the Eagles won 16-10 at Chanhassen High School. Eden Prairie had blitzed its opponents in the first halves of its first two state tournament games by a combined score of 24-1.

But the Eagles also knew they could rally based on last year’s state title game. After trailing 6-0, Eden Prairie topped Blake in that one, too.

“So we were like, ‘Hey guys, we’re only down half of what we were last year,’ ” said senior midfielder Naomi Rogge, who scored four goals and assisted on another. “We are able to score 20 goals in a game. We know that we can get three to come back.”

Rogge and sophomore attack Abby Johnson — who had six goals total — scored six of Eden Prairie’s first seven goals to give their team the lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. The Eagles pushed the pace when they had an open field but never forced it. Co-head coach Beth Patterson said her team struggled with self-inflicted errors in its win over Blake in the regular-season finale.

With less than five minutes left in the game, Eden Prairie seemed to break Blake out of a timeout. Johnson cut to the goal and quickly converted a pass into her final goal of the game to give her team a 15-9 lead.

On the Blake sideline, an anxious player leaned over her stick. A few minutes later, with just seconds remaining a Blake midfielder left the game after receiving a yellow card, one of two that officials dealt the Bears. When Eden Prairie scored one more goal, she was heaving next to her coaches.

“We told our girls no more scoring, and they were still scoring,” Patterson said. “They couldn’t help themselves.”

Only twice since 2006 has a school other than these two played in the state title game. Never during that time has the game not included at least one of them. Blake, which had three players score at least two goals, won state championships each year from 2010-2014, and Eden Prairie has won it since.

After the game ended, a brief but heavy rain fell. The Eden Prairie team huddled under its tent, and a player came to Patterson with their most recent state title trophy. She told her coach that rain dampened the team photo in the new trophy, and Patterson told her that was OK, that Eden Prairie had others.

Patterson seemed to mean pictures — but she could’ve been referring to state championship trophies.