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Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal: Prior Lake moves on past Eden Prairie

By Drew Herron, SportsEngine, 02/26/22, 10:45AM CST

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Lakers' forward Riley Dueber had two goals in the second period of their victory over the Eagles to send his team to the Class 2A, Section 2 final.


Riley Dueber of Prior Lake stuffs the corner of the net early in the second period. Dueber tallied two goals as the Lakers defeat the Eagles 4-2 in the Class 2A, Section 2 Semifinal at Braemar Arena Edina, MN. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

The energy was ever-present and the intensity unrelenting.

With that, Prior Lake became the first team in the state to cut down a top-seeded squad after outworking Eden Prairie to a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon in the Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal at Braemar Arena.

“Basically all the bullet points on our game plan, they did it,” Prior Lake coach Joe Pankratz said. “Our mindset was really good and we played with a lot of confidence. It was just about a perfect effort.”


Teddy Townsend scored Eden Prairie’s first goal on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles lost the Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal 4-2 to Prior Lake. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner, SportsEngine

First Report

Riley Dueber and Will Schumacher each scored twice to help drive Prior Lake past top-seeded Eden Prairie 4-2 Saturday afternoon, and into next week’s Class 2A, Section 2 final.

Prior Lake, ranked No. 17 in the Feb. 23 Class 2A coaches poll, outworked No. 14-2A Eden Prairie from the jump, scoring just three minutes, 42 seconds into the opening period in a game they would never trail.

In the second period, Dueber scored twice, the second of which came short handed on a helper from Alex Bump, and the Lakers (17-10) were on their way. Spirited and physical play set the tone as Prior Lake repeatedly won puck races and controlled long stretches.

Eden Prairie (15-12), becomes the first top seed in the state to drop out, and the Eagles could never quite answer the intensity Prior Lake brought. The Lakers advance to a section final for just the second time since moving to Class 2A prior to the 2003-04 season. The last time a Lakers team has progressed this far was in 2016, where they lost to Eden Prairie.

Prior Lake will take on the winner of the Minnetonka/Chaska on Wednesday night, back at Braemar Arena. 


Will Schumacher tallied two goals Saturday afternoon in the Laker’s 4-2 win over the Eagle’s in the Class 2A, Section 2 semifinal at Braemar Arena in Edina. Photo by Earl J. Ebensteiner SportsEngine

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