Brooke Lewis fires off a shot from close range, scoring one of her five goals for the Eagles. Eden Prairie pulled away in the second half to top Chanhassen 16-9 on Tuesday night. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine
After scoring four unanswered goals, Chanhassen appeared to have a shot at upsetting Eden Prairie. But the Eagles’ veteran midfielders and forwards had other plans.
Thirty-four seconds after the Storm’s tying goal to make it 7-7 in the second half, Eden Prairie senior forward Brooke Lewis converted on a pass from fellow senior Abby Johnson and the Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the state coaches’ poll, regained the lead. That goal sparked a run of four goals in less than two minutes, which was enough for Eden Prairie to hold off Section 2 foe Chanhassen 16-9 on Tuesday at Eden Prairie High School.
For the Storm, the tilt was a chance to make a statement against one of the state’s premier teams. Though Chanhassen had climbed the rankings to No. 3, it doesn’t quite have the winning tradition of other top programs in the state.
“These are the games we love,” Storm coach Rachel Aiken said. “We want to schedule the best teams. The girls love these games and they make us better.”
Photo Gallery: Chanhassen girls vs. Eden Prairie
In the early minutes, the Eagles (6-0, 3-0) made it look easy as they scored twice in less than 90 seconds.
But the Storm stayed the course. After falling behind 7-3 late in the opening half, Chanhassen added a pair of goals in the final minutes of the first half to make it a 7-5 game at halftime.
“They run a lot and do a lot of different things,” Aiken said. “But I thought we adapted well and battled back.”
Then, the Storm quickly added two more goals in the second half to tie it 7-7. Then, Eden Prairie’s veteran offensive group stepped in. After winning the faceoff, Lewis scored to break the tie.
“I think on those momentum swings, it’s big to win a faceoff back or score a goal,” Lewis said. “Then, you get in their head.”
As a five-year player for the Eagles, Lewis has been on the field for many important sequences like the one on Tuesday. She’s among four seniors who are five-year players. Eden Prairie co-head coach Judy Baxter said she believes this is the most experienced group she’s had since 2007.
With all of that experience, the Eagles offense has plenty of chemistry up front. That showed when Eden Prairie pulled away in the second half. Junior midfielder Maggie Brown tallied four goals in the second half. The rest of the Eagles’ second-half scores came from seniors.
“We’re a group that goes into every game level-headed,” Lewis said. “We just want to come in and dictate the pace.”
Though Tuesday’s win was significant in terms of section seeding, it’s just one challenge for Eden Prairie. After Thursday’s game against Wayzata, the Eagles head to Milwaukee for their annual trip to take on Loyola Academy, one of the top girls’ programs in Illinois. And though Lewis and her senior teammates have had plenty of success in Minnesota, they’ve never beaten Loyola Academy. A win on Saturday would just add to her list of accomplishments.
“It’s a lot of team bonding,” Lewis said. “We sit on a bus for a long time and laugh a lot. It’s a lot of fun but we really want to beat (Loyola) this time.”
Maggie Brown (5) carries the ball up the field in the first half. Brown scored five goals, helping lead Eden Prairie to a 16-9 win over Chanhassen Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine
First Report
After Chanhassen rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game 7-7 early in the second half, the Storm looked like they had a chance to top Eden Prairie. But the Eagles, ranked No. 1 in the state coaches’ poll, had other ideas as they outscored the Storm 9-2 the rest of the way to pull away for a 16-9 victory on Tuesday at Eden Prairie High School.
With rainy conditions, the game was moved inside the Eden Prairie dome. But the shift inside didn’t slow the Eagles offense early. Eden Prairie (6-0, 3-0) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 1 minute, 11 seconds as freshman forward Josie Lillquist and junior midfielder Maggie Brown scored. Brown finished with five goals, including four in the second half.
The No. 3 Storm fell behind by as many as four goals in the first half, but fought back to cut the lead to 7-5, thanks to goals from junior midfielder Elle Wagner and freshman midfielder Leah Hodgins, who led Chanhassen (3-1, 0-0) with four tallies.
With the game tied at 7 in the second half, Eden Prairie responded with four goals in less than two minutes. Senior midfielder Brooke Lewis started the run and finished with five goals.
Strom sophomore goaltender Kaylyn Cater attempted to quell the Eagle offense by making nine saves. Eden Prairie goalie Emilie Bloyer stopped five shots.
Freshman midfielder Leah Hodgins evades Eden Prairie defender Brooke Lewis. Hodgins led scoring for the Storm with four goals. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine
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