Riding a four-game losing streak, Wayzata was on the verge of having its season spin out of control.

Things weren’t getting any easier as the Trojans kicked off their Lake Conference schedule Tuesday with a game at the Plymouth Ice Center against Eden Prairie, ranked No. 6 in the Class 2A coaches poll.

If you would have told any Wayzata player prior to the game that the Eagles would outshoot the Trojans by nearly a 2-to-1 ratio, it’s likely he would have been skeptical over the chances of winning such a game.

However, such a game happened as Eden Prairie recorded a 40-23 advantage in shots, but Wayzata - behind the play of goalie Alex Schilling - notched the 4-2 victory to start its conference slate on the right foot. 

The Trojans were outscored 16-12 and outshot during their losing streak. Even coach Pat O’Leary hesitated, at first, when asked if he foresaw his No. 8-2A Wayzata team (7-6-2, 1-0) winning a game in which it was outshot by such a large margin, but then he conceded scoring opportunities are about quality, not quantity. 

“Grade-A scoring chances were pretty even,” O’Leary said. 

O’Leary said that the shots on goal might not be the best barometer of how the game went when compared with the 12 penalty minutes assessed to his squad.

“It’s a process we’re continuing to work on,” he said. “When you lose as many one-goal games as recently as we have... kids are a little frustrated and on edge, so you just have to try and find a way to keep them even-keeled.” 

The star of the night was Schilling, who stopped just about everything that was thrown at him and finished the game with 38 saves.

“Our goalie played great tonight, we found a way to score a couple goals," O'Leary said.

Goalie is the position most put under the microscope when a string of losses happens, and Schilling played like he was the glue for a team that hasn’t lost a game all season.

It looked as though Schilling was headed into the third period in a precarious position as Wayzata trailed 2-1 with under a minute to go in the second. 

Then the Trojans gave themselves a fighting chance. Jack Fetrow took a pass from Mark Senden and pushed the puck through Shaun Durocher’s five-hole before the Eden Prairie goalie closed his legs, tying the score with 30 seconds left in the period. 

Nathan Dingmann got the go-ahead goal with 10 minutes to play, and Schilling stopped 21 shots in the third period to give the Trojans bragging rights as the Lake Conference’s first-place team. 

Wayzata was hampered by penalties and trailed in time of possession, but Fetrow said none of the stats matter.

The senior added that the Trojans are a systematic team, and when they follow the game plan -- and get some good goaltending -- they won’t lose a game. 

“(Being outshot and penalized heavily) it doesn’t change our mindset,” Fetrow said. “We have our game plan, we know if we stick to that, good things are going to happen. We know with Alex in net we always have a chance of winning, no matter what the shots against us are.”

Three sneaky goals for Wayzata, including the game-winner by Nathan Dingmann, were enough to give the Trojans their first conference win as they defeated the Eagles 4-2 at the Plymouth Ice Center on Thursday. 

Dingmann slipped the puck just under Eden Prairie goaltender Shaun Durocher's mitt with 10 minutes to go in the game to give a 3-2 advantage to Wayzata (7-6-2, 1-0), ranked No. 8 in the Class 2A coaches poll.

No. 6-2A Eden Prairie (10-6, 0-1) scored first in the contest, a Nicky Leiverman goal on a power play early in the second period.

Five minutes later, Hank Sorensen slipped one past Durocher’s short side on a power play to knot it up 1-1. 

Eden Prairie got Wayzata in a 5-on-3 situation later in the period, and the Eagles took the 2-1 lead with goal from Marc Sullivan just as the Trojans gained an extra skater. 

Eden Prairie was poised to go into the final frame with a lead until Jack Fetrow poked the puck through Durocher's five-hole before he could close his legs, tying the game at 2-2.

After Dingmann scored the go-ahead goal, Grant Anderson padded the lead with his first goal of the season with just over 3 minutes to play. 

Alex Schilling was a stalwart in net for Wayzata, stopping 38 shots and holding Eden Prairie to two goals or less for just the third time all season. The Eagles outshot the Trojans 40-23 in the contest. 

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