Quantcast
skip navigation

Eagles elude Skipppers

By Loren Nelson, Editor, 05/17/11, 6:19AM CDT

Share

No. 4 Eden Prairie hangs on, evens season series with No. 3 Minnetonka


Eden Prairie's Riley Boehm, left, battles with Minnetonka's Parker Weinstock during a faceoff. Photo by Helen Nelson

Minnetonka’s defensemen are big, strong and nasty.

They will punish you with their long poles, which might as well be axes the way they hack down opposing offenses (legally, for the most part, of course).

Eden Prairie’s midfielders are eye-blink quick.

One misstep, and they will scoot untouched to the goal. Most often, it is only a formality that they deposit the ball in the net, an action as routine for them as slipping an envelope into a mail slot.

Big and nasty won Round One when these teams played this season.

Speed killed in the rematch.


Riley Boehm scored three goals for Eden Prairie in its win over Minnetonka. Photo by Helen Nelson

Riley Boehm, an Eden Prairie mighty mite who is fearless in the land of the giants, scored three goals to lead the Eagles past the Skippers 8-7 on Tuesday, May 17, at Minnetonka High School in the teams’ second one-goal game in as many meetings this season.

Minnetonka beat Eden Prairie 7-6 on April 28.

“Absolutely they have some big guys,” the 5-foot-10, 150-pound Boehm said about the Skippers’ defense. “They are very big and very skilled players. When you don’t have size, quickness is all you can use.”

That quickness allowed Boehm to convert even the smallest openings in the Minnetonka defense into quality scoring chances. He scored twice in the third quarter as Eden Prairie turned a 5-3 lead into what was at one point an 8-4 advantage.

“His ability to dodge those slides is incredible,” senior Mitch Hugdahl said about Boehm. “I’ve never seen someone do it like him. People think he only specializes on face-offs, but he can do it all.”


Senior Mitch Hugdahl scored twice for the Eagles as they beat Minnetonka. Photo by Helen Nelson

The uber-elusive Hugdahl scored twice for the Eagles as did jet-fueled sophomore Jake Woodring.

Eden Prairie sealed the victory with an entertaining bit of ball control from Hugdahl, who after a timeout with just more than a minute left proceeded to kill all but a few seconds from the clock with series of cuts and jukes and fakes. It might has well have been Harlem Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals.

“Yeah, we’ve got a strategy,” Boehm said about running out the clock in a tight game,  “it’s just kind of run around.”

Actually, the Eagles spend a lot of time practicing their 2-minute drill. But if Hugdahl has the ball and nobody can catch him, well, that works, too.

“If somebody got open for him to pass it, we’d say pass it,” Eden Prairie coach Ryan Ward said. “But if he felt confident in keeping it in his stick, that’s fine with me. It worked.”


Minnetonka's Chase Fisher, left, works against Eden Prairie's Curt Rau. Photo by Helen Nelson


Michael, team cheer captain for Minnetonka, revs up the fans during the game against Eden Prairie. Photo by Helen Nelson

Statistics, Summary

1. Riley Boehm, Eden Prairie
The senior midfielder and face-off specialist was a dodging and scoring whirlwind, as he finished with three goals, hit at least one post and just missed on several other golden opportunities. Boehm’s final goal, a masterpiece that finished a solo rush, gave the Eagles an 8-4 lead with 1:24 left in the final quarter.

2. Mitch Hugdahl, Eden Prairie
The senior midfielder and lock to be on the soon-to-be-relased list of Mr. Lacrosse finalists scored twice but really showcased his superior dodging and ball-handling skills when he singlehandedly burned almost a minute off the clock in the Minnetonka end as the Eagles held on for the victory.

3. Teddy O’Reilly, Minnetonka
The junior attackman was a blur of activity, and his relentless hustle and hounding of Eden Prairie’s defensemen led to several turnovers. O’Reilly finished with a goal and two assists, including a perfect feed to fellow super gnat Jack Denton, who scored with 2:02 left o pull the Skippers to within a goal.

Photo Gallery

Game Recap

Senior midfielder Riley Boehm scored three goals and senior Mitch Hugdahl put on a stunning display of dodging and ball possession in the final minute to lead No. 4-ranked Eden Prairie past No. 3 Minnetonka 8-7 in a matchup of Lake Conference and Section 6 rivals at Minnetonka High School.

Boehm, known mostly for his prowess as a face-off man, used his speed and quickness to repeatedly dodge past Minnetonka’s defensemen en route to his second three-goal game of the season.

Hugdahl, who has committed to play at NCAA Division I Georgetown, scored two goals for the Eagles (9-2), who lost to Minnetonka 7-6 in the teams’ first meeting of the season on April 28.

Jake Woodring, a sophomore midfielder, also scored twice for Eden Prairie.

Senior Chase Fisher and junior Jack Denton each scored twice for Minnetonka (9-3), which rallied from an 8-4 deficit late in the third quarter.

Eden Prairie has reached the state tournament twice (2007, 2008) in the last four years, finishing second each time. Minnetonka won the state title in 2009.

Standings

Statistical Leaders

How They've Fared

Spotlight Game Coverage

Recent Stories