Photo Gallery: Edina vs. Eden Prairie
The road team, led by Flemming, looked confident all night long as the Hornets (3-1) cruised to a 14-6 victory over Lake Conference opponent Eden Prairie (1-2) Tuesday night at Eden Prairie High School.
“We really focused on having team effort,” Crampton said.
Flemming, a senior midfielder, scored a game-high five goals and added an assist. Her height allowed her to intercept passes, and her quick hands helped her come up with numerous ground balls.
“Cords (Cordelia) is an awesome player, awesome leader, awesome captain,” Crampton said. “The girls really feed off her.”
Flemming scored 43 goals last year and already has 13 this season.
“Something that I've been working on is being aggressive on offense,” Flemming said. “I tend to be a distributor first. I think having an attack mindset, and being the loudest one on defense just to make sure the underclassmen know their role too, and making sure everyone feels confident in their position.”
Flemming helped the Hornets secure a 7-1 lead at halftime. Nicola Santoni added two goals in the first half, including a nice spin move before scoring a goal.
Edina’s Mary Velner was the player to watch in the second half. The junior midfielder showed off her stellar speed, sprinting past numerous Eden Prairie players and finding her way to the net.
“Speed kills,” Crampton said. “Mary Velner can run. We’re always super excited to have her on our team.”
Velner scored three of her four goals in the second half and also added an assist.
“She’s awesome,” Flemming said. “It’s definitely a weapon to have. When we’re in trouble, she can run it down at any time. She’s the fastest girl, I’d say, in our grade and in our state.”
Crampton added that Velner is stepping into a bigger role this year, and with that role comes added aggression.
“We’re really excited that she’s going to the goal more,” Flemming said. “It’s lethal in transition when she can go all the way down and score.”
Eden Prairie couldn’t match the speed from Velner, and both goalies struggled to come up with consistent saves.
The Eagles used two goalies Tuesday, Winnie Wallace and Addy Badon, but both were unable to consistently slow down the Hornets offense.
Junior Brinley Hopper paced Eden Prairie with three goals and an assist, the lone player to have success against Edina goalie Uma Corniea.
The junior goalie recorded 11 saves, and she was jumping up and down waiting to come up with a stop all night long.
Both teams recorded 17 shots, but it was the more efficient Edina, led by Flemming, that controlled the pace of play.
“She has a great IQ,” Velner said. “She makes super smart decisions and knows when to hold the ball or to move the ball.”
Her play seemed to rub off on the rest of her teammates, and her leadership has helped Edina come together to start this season.
“We’re just building our team chemistry,” Crampton said. “We’re learning how to work with each other. We’re starting to progress more and more.”