Nick Bunde got the scoring started in Champlin Park's 10-7 victory over eighth-ranked Eastview on Saturday. 

Just 2 minutes, 36 seconds into the rematch of last year's state tournament semifinal game (won by Eastview), Bunde found the back of the net. He scored his second goal less than 45 seconds into the second quarter.

The Rebels (2-0) have been waiting for this game for a long time.

"We felt confident going into the game, and we wanted to get them back for last year," Bunde said. "We just put our heart into this game."

Bunde's third goal broke a late 7-7 tie after the Lightning (0-3) clawed their way back from an early deficit. But Bunde's goal put the Rebels up by one with just under three minutes to play, and Champlin Park held on to win its home opener.

The Rebels have now put up 13 and 10 goals in their first two games while holding opponents Centennial and Eastview to zero and 7 goals, respectively. 

The stout defense was expected from a veteran group, while the offensive production has been somewhat of a surprise after losing Mr. Lacrosse finalist Ryan McNeil to graduation from a squad that finished third at state last year.

Enter Bunde, a junior attackman, has what his coach, Eric Borer, calls 'sneaky experience'.

"He's been playing varsity for two or three years now, so he has the experience," Borer said. "He's honed-in his shot a little bit more, and those small attackmen just move their feet and really make it tough on bigger, stronger defenders." 

Bunde and the Rebels' offense seemed to have the ball in their offensive zone most of the first half as the defense held Eastview to just two goals and looked in no danger of breaking.

But the wall that is the Champlin Park defense did crack a few times in the second half, and the Lightning tied things up with 4 minutes, 16 seconds to play.

Then the veteran Rebels' defense stepped-up their game again, going on a long penalty kill that turned into points.

"Killing off those penalties -- I think we had three or four penalties (in the fourth quarter) which was a little scary," Borer said. "Killing those off got the bench excited, and that feeds our offense once we do get the ball back ... it was excellent."

Bunde scored just over a minute later and brought all the momentum back to the Rebels' side.

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