Eden Prairie survived an epic clash with Holy Family Catholic, coming out with a controversial 4-2 victory in the Class 2A, Section 2 semifinals Saturday afternoon at Braemar Arena in Edina.

The Fire had the potential go-ahead goal waved off due to a hand pass infraction with six minutes remaining that kept the game tied 2-2 and was likely the turning point in the game.

Senior captain Michael Graham scored on the power play with 4:25 remaining to lift the Eagles to a lead they would hold for good.

“It was a battle, and we’re glad to have this win,” Eden Prairie junior Casey Mittelstadt said. “Hopefully we can roll this momentum into next week and beyond.”

Mittelstadt finished with two goals and three points while blue-liner Nicky Leivermann chipped in three assists for the Eagles.

Mittelstadt opened the scoring 10 minutes, 35 seconds into the first period when he took a tape-to-tape cross-ice pass from Leivermann and rifled it past Holy Family Catholic goalie Jared Moe.

After the Fire responded on a fine individual effort from Mr. Hockey finalist Will Garin, who netted a wraparound goal to tie the game with 5:14 left in the first, the Eagles again went ahead on a power-play goal from Middelstadt with 44 seconds remaining in the second. Mittelstadt let loose a wrist shot from the corner of the circle to the left of the Fire goal that found the back of the net.

Holy Family Catholic tied the game 2-2 when defenseman Matt Anderson buried a rebound 5:54 into the third, setting up a tense situation down the stretch.

Ostensibly, Nick Michel scored on the power play with a bit more than six minutes remaining to give the Fire a late lead. Michel started with the puck in the high slot between the circles and got off two shots before the third rolled past the goal line.

The score ignited the Holy Family Catholic crowd, but only for a short time. After a minutes-long conference between the officiating crew, the goal was called off for a hand pass. It proved a tough pill to swallow for the Fire, who had been on Eden Prairie's heels the entire way and might have been on the verge of tipping things in the third period.

“That was the turning point in the game,” Holy Family Catholic coach Noel Rahn said. “Regardless of what else happens, the referees completely blew this game. It’s unfortunate that we’re in this (stage) of game and we don’t have officials that are calling it properly for both sides. 

“It’s tough for the seniors and the older guys,” he added. “They’ve put a lot of effort into this game, and to have it end like it ended, it makes you more than a little salty.”

A slashing call put Eden Prairie on the power play with five minutes to play and the Eagles use the man advantage to take the lead. In the corner, Mittelstadt took a pass from the point and charged the net, delivering a well-placed pass onto Graham’s stick before he converted on the scoring chance.

The Eagles outshot the Fire 36-17 for the game, but Eden Prairie was repeatedly stymied by Moe, who finished with 32 stops.

As things went along, the Eagles grew more and more committed to crashing the net.

“We’ve been working on getting to the net a lot more and playing with more grit in front of the net,” Mittelstadt said. “We tend to score a lot of pretty goals, but we know coming down the playoff run, it's going to become a lot more important to get some more ugly ones by getting to the net. I think that worked pretty well today.”

Eden Prairie, ranked No. 6 in Class 2A by Let’s Play Hockey, improves its record to 18-7-2 on the season. The Eagles head to the section final Wednesday night at Mariucci Arena where they face Prior Lake starting at 8 p.m.

Eden Prairie felt as if its depth carried it through this fight against Holy Family Catholic.

“We felt that we were able to wear them down a little each period,” Eagles coach Lee Smith said. “Our depth helped us withstand everything they threw at us.”

The Fire (20-6) are No. 4 in Class 2A rankings and rose as high as No. 2 this winter, the best ranking in the history of the up-and-coming program. It was a step forward on the season for Holy Family Catholic, but that’s of little consolation now to Rahn.

“We won 20 games. We won a lot of big games. We worked our way into a top-5 ranking and held it,” Rahn said. “But we’ve got to do it in the playoffs, and until we are able to do that, we aren’t going to be satisfied.”

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