Sports
Eagan Falls To Eden Prairie In State Semifinals
The Eagles topped the Wildcats 5-1, sending Eagan to Saturday's 4 p.m. third place game against Edina
This wasn’t the way the Eagan boys hockey team envisioned its rematch with Eden Prairie.
The Wildcats came up short this time around, falling to the top-seeded Eagles 5-1 in the Class AA state semifinals Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Eagan snatched a 4-2 win against Eden Prairie on Dec. 22, and after its state quarterfinal win on Thursday the Wildcats said they were excited to play the Eagles again.
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But Eden Prairie senior Kyle Rau took over Friday’s game, scoring two goals and adding two assists while propelling the Eagles to Saturday’s championship game.
The Wildcats (21-7-2) will face Edina in the third place game at 4 p.m. in St. Paul.
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“We really don’t make excuses,” Eagan coach Mike Taylor said. “For whatever reason we weren’t there tonight. You’ve got to give them credit—they were. It’s the state semis. You’ve got to show up.”
Eden Prairie took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and never looked back. By the time Eagan’s Derick Kuchera put the Wildcats on the scoreboard 1:38 into the third period, the Eagles (23-5-1) held a 4-0 lead and were in control of the contest.
Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said taking control of the game early was important to the Eagles’ game plan.
“They usually establish themselves physically—they’re tenacious,” Smith said. “They get up on teams then pack it in and get tough to score on. I guess the guys challenged themselves to be ready from the drop of the puck.”
Rau was the catalyst. He assisted on two power-play goals and scored another on the man-advantage, giving him a hand in all three special teams goals Eden Prairie scored on the night.
“We wanted to come out and jump them early,” Rau said. “We did that, and we tried not to let them back in the game.”
Taylor said his team wasn’t intense enough to come away with a win on Friday.
“They always had more support on the puck; they moved the puck quicker,” Taylor said. “That is all a level of intensity for me. We didn’t match that.”
GAME SUMMARY
Eagan 0 0 1 — 1
Eden Prairie 2 2 1 — 5
Scoring — First period: 8:47 EP Luc Gerdes (Mark Rath), 13:02 EP Nick Seeler (Kyle Rau, David Rath) PPG. Second period: 0:22 EP K. Rau (D. Rath, N. Seeler) PPG, 3:30 EP K. Rau (Des Shavlik, Dan Molenaar). Third period: 1:38 EAGAN Derick Kuchera (Connor McGovern, Nick Kuchera), 11:14 EP Ben Boldenow (D. Molenaar, K. Rau) PPG. Shots on goal — EAGAN 15, EP 34. Power plays — EAGAN 0-5, EP 3-7. Saves — EAGAN Tommy Bodeker 29, EP Andrew Ford 14.
