EHS Boys Hockey Rally Falls Short in Loss to Edina

The Eagan boys hockey team showed its coach — and probably themselves — something Saturday night.

Trailing 5-1 late in the second period, the Wildcats tied the game early in the third, but lost 7-6 at second-ranked Edina.

"We definitely have some heart coming back the way we did," said coach Mike Taylor.

And they left quite an impression on the opposition.

"We knew they were going to be good, but to be honest with you, they're better then we thought they were going to be," said Edina coach Curt Giles. "They're big, strong, physical and they work hard. They took over portions of the game and we took over portions of the game. It was one of those seesaw battles going back-and-forth. Fortunately for us, we came out with a win."

Will Merchant scored twice for 10th-ranked Eagan (1-1), and John Carroll, Sam Wolfe, Michael Zajac and Brady Loew also scored. Nick Kuchera had three assists, and has seven helpers in two games.

Trailing 5-1, Zajac scored with three minutes left in the penalty-filled middle frame and Merchant scored his first off a scramble in front with 43.4 seconds left.

"When we got to within 5-3, we came into the locker room figuring we got a chance," Taylor said.

Both teams skated well in the opening period, but things began to get far more physical in the second when 14 penalties were called.

"After the second, our talk was about 'you cannot focus on the refs; you need to focus on getting back in this game and you can do it if you stop yelling about the calls'," Taylor said. "I didn't see all the calls, and I was mad about a couple, but that's hockey. You got to play through that."

His words got through.

Loew scored on a long wrist shot at 1:38 and Merchant scored on a similar shot through a screen 74 seconds later to tie the game.

However, Ben Walker put Edina (3-1) back in front 6-5 at 5:05 and Nick Leer scored again 30 seconds later.

Fast forward just 19 more seconds and a wrister from Wolfe found the back of the Edina net to get the Wildcats within one.

"Our attitude was, 'Well, we got plenty of time left,'" Taylor said.

Eagan had a couple of great opportunities late, and nearly tied the game at the buzzer, but a deflection from Bonstrom in traffic somehow found the left pad of Edina goaltender Connor Girard.

Unfortunately, the physicality escalated after game ended with every player on the ice except Girard getting involved in a melee where punches were thrown from players on each team. Bonstrom and Edina's Joey Kopp were the only players penalized, but each was assessed a fighting major and game disqualification meaning both will miss their team's next game. They were the only penalties in the third period.

"It's hockey, so it is a pretty intense sport. We're high school kids, and sometimes it's hard for kids to control themselves," said Edina forward Steven Fogarty.

It was the first time Eagan played the Hornets in Edina's home building. Taylor said the Wildcats were not in awe of their surroundings; however, Eagan wasn't nearly as sharp as they were in Thursday's 9-1 win over Prior Lake.

Eagan had just four shots on goal in the opening period, and trailed 2-0 at intermission. Fogarty made it 3-0 Hornets at 5:20 of the second, before Carroll scored a power-play goal on a rebound at 11:36. Less than three minutes later it was 5-1 Edina after the Hornets scored twice on the power play.

Eagan plays next on Thursday night at sixth-ranked Burnsville, and returns home Dec. 11 to face No. 9 Minnetonka at 7:30 p.m.