Sophomore forward Casey Mittelstadt avoided putting any pressure on himself to score a goal in Eden Prairie’s matchup with rival Benilde-St. Margarets’ on Tuesday. The Eagles, however, applied plenty of pressure on the Red Knights.

Mittelstadt scored two goals and junior goalie Shaun Durocher made 24 saves as Eden Prairie held Benilde-St. Margaret’s scoreless for the first time this season to record a 5-0 victory at the St. Louis Park Rec Center.

Mittelstadt opened the scoring for the Eagles (14-8), ranked No. 5 in the Class 2A coaches poll, with a power-play goal at the 7:12 mark of the first period. He scored his second goal just over a minute into the second period. 

Mittelstadt’s multi-goal game is his fifth of the season and ended a two-game goalless stretch for the Gophers commit. Mittelstadt, however, said he wasn’t pressing to scoring goals against the No. 10-2A Red Knights (12-8-2).

“I didn’t force anything, just kind of got pucks on net and a few went in,” said Mittelstadt, who is the Eagles’ second-leading goal (20) and points scorer (42) in his first varsity season. 

Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said he wasn’t concerned about Mittelstadt, or any underclassman, making the adjustment to playing varsity.

“We just don’t like to rush them into the forefront, and we’ve been able to allow (Mittelstadt) to develop and he looks great at this level,” Smith said.        

While Mittelstadt was leading the Eagles’ offense against the Red Knights, Durocher was anchoring the defense. 

Durocher’s stellar performance included turning every shot from a Benilde-St. Margaret’s team averaging more than 3.6 goals per game.

“There was a lot of defense, but (Durocher) made some really good saves,” Smith said. “He really saw the puck well. He battled hard in front for his teammates and he deserves that.”

The shutout was Durocher’s second of the season and improved his overall record to 10-6-0. The first-year varsity starter also has a 2.92 goals against average and a .901 save percentage.

Durocher took the loss in the Eagles’ 2-1 home loss to the Red Knights on Dec. 12. In the game, Eden Prairie led 1-0 with less than four minutes remaining in the third period but conceded two late goals, including the game-winner with 31 seconds to play.

The Eagles needed to stick to their individual responsibilities to avoid a similar collapse in the future, Durocher said.

“(We are) making sure every guy is doing their job and not doing everyone else’s job,” he said.

Following that game plan will be important as Eden Prairie heads into the postseason and another possible game with Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Both teams reside in Class 2A, Section 6, along with Wayzata, Holy Family Catholic and Minnetonka, making it one of the state’s most competitive sections.

Three of the last six Class 2A state champions have come from section (Eden Prairie in 2009 and 2011, and Benilde St. Margaret’s in 2012), and Mittelstadt said he hopes the victory over the Red Knights provides the Eagles with momentum to win the section.

“It fuels the rivalry,” Mittelstadt said. “It’s a big section win, so we’re just going to try and keep that going into sections and try and make a run at the title.”    

Eden Prairie sophomore forward Casey Mittelstadt scored two goals as the Eagles flew past Benilde-St. Margaret’s 5-0 at the St. Louis Park Rec Center on Tuesday.  

Senior forward Riley Argetsinger, junior forward Michael Graham and senior defender Brady Schoo each had a goal for Eden Prairie (14-8), ranked No. 5 in the Class 2A coaches poll.

Mittelstadt opened the scoring for the Eagles just over seven minutes into the first period, tallying a power-play goal after Benilde-St. Margaret’s senior defender Jack Lawton received a five-minute major penalty for boarding.

Argetsinger scored eight minutes later and the Eagles went into the first intermission leading 2-0.

Eden Prairie continued its dominance in the second period. Mittelstadt netted his second goal just over a minute into the period, and Graham converted on the power play one minute later to give the Eagles a 4-0 lead.

Schoo added a goal late in the third period.  

Junior goalie Shaun Durocher finished with 24 saves for Eden Prairie, while senior Jalen Long and sophomore Ryan Bischel combined to make 34 saves the No. 10-2A Red Knights (12-8-2).        

The Eagles travel to Lake Conference foe Minnetonka on Feb. 5 for a rematch with the Skippers, who defeated Eden Prairie 4-2 earlier this season. Benilde-St. Margaret’s welcomes Chaska in a Metro West Conference matchup on Feb. 5.

Spotlight Game Coverage