Author: Steve Mulholland

The Eden Prairie football team celebrated senior night in style with a 42-16 dismantling of Edina at Aerie Stadium Friday. The 7th-ranked Eagles offense cruised with five players scoring touchdowns. Junior Terae Dunn’s run from 14 yards out opened the scoring on the first offensive series. Senior linebacker Dominic Heim did double time and rushed for two touchdowns for the Eagles. His second score gave the Eagles a 35-0 lead in the third quarter. Eagles quarterback Nick Fazi made the most of his senior night, finding classmates Jermell Taylor and Michael Gross for a number of completions. The Eagles led 42-0…

When Eden Prairie defender Zach Fier faced Minnetonka goalkeeper Peyton Olson in the sudden-death penalty shootout at the Section 2AAA boys soccer semifinals on Thursday night, he knew exactly where he would send the ball. “I picked my spot before I walked up and put it where I wanted it,” said the senior, who didn’t allow himself to be overwhelmed by the moment. For that, he credits his teammates. “My keeper (junior Zach Diermeier) put me in a spot where the pressure wasn’t there. I could step up confidently,” Fier said. “It’s more than just me there. It was eight…

The Eden Prairie boys soccer team advanced to the Section 2AAA finals with a dramatic penalty shootout 2-1 win over Minnetonka on Thursday.  Amid frigid temperatures that reached 39 degrees and blustery winds, the game was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. The teams remained deadlocked through two overtime periods and went to a penalty shootout. In the first round, each team made three goals in five attempts, moving the session into sudden death. In the sudden-death PK period, Eagles goalkeeper Zach Diermeier’s save paved the way for Eagles defender Zach Fier to make the game-winning goal. The Eagles…

Eden Prairie co-head coach Rob St. Clair missed his team’s dramatic upset win over Wayzata that closed out the boys soccer regular season last week. The Eagles improbable victory came with senior Zach Fier’s game-winning goal in the final two seconds to beat the state’s top-ranked team. St. Clair wasn’t going to miss this week’s encore performance. “It was a reboot,” St. Clair said with a smile. “I wasn’t getting my money’s worth, so I need them to give me some excitement too.” This week’s dose of adrenaline came when the Eagles were deadlocked in a 1-1 tie with Chanhassen…

Kelly Taylor has been coaching for 15 years. In that time, the Eden Prairie girls soccer head coach has experienced the realities of competition, both on the winning side and the losing side. After Edina eliminated the Eagles from the sectional playoffs on Tuesday night, she shared that lesson with her team. “There’s only one team – at the end of the day – whose season doesn’t end like this,” Taylor said. “And that’s the team that wins the state title. And these never get easier.” The Hornets, favored by many at the start of the season to go deep…

The Eden Prairie boys soccer team will advance to the Section 2AAA semifinals after another dramatic finish for the second week in a row. After their last-second upset of top-ranked Wayzata to close out the regular season last week, the Eagles’ Tuesday evening match with Chanhassen went into overtime after a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. High winds at Aerie Stadium in Eden Prairie had a major impact on both teams throughout the game. Eden Prairie had the advantage with the wind at their backs in the first overtime period that saw both teams with scoring chances. As…

The fourth-ranked Eden Prairie Eagles traveled to Shakopee on Saturday, arriving 17 hours after they were originally scheduled to take the field against the sixth-ranked Sabers. A school lockdown at Eden Prairie High School on Friday forced the game’s postponement. So instead of Friday Night Lights, two of the state’s top football teams squared off in the bright sunshine of an October Saturday. But no one expected the end result of this contest to be quite so one-sided, as Shakopee came away with a decisive 31-14 win over the Eagles. Eden Prairie head coach Mike Grant was asked if he…

In a game that was scheduled to be played Friday night under the lights in Shakopee, but moved to Saturday afternoon, the fourth-ranked Eden Prairie Eagles fell to sixth-rated Shakopee 31-14 at Vaughan Stadium. Shakopee opened the scoring on their first offensive series with a 74-yard touchdown run by senior Garrison Monroe. Gusty winds were a factor all afternoon, and the Eagles took advantage of having the wind at their backs in their first-quarter passing game. Senior quarterback Nick Fazi connected with senior wide receiver Michael Gross for a 50-yard play down the sideline to the Shakopee 30-yard line. Two…

Under the bleachers at Aerie Stadium on Monday night, the garage door leading to the soccer dressing room was open prior to the Eagles boys’ soccer match with top-ranked and undefeated Wayzata. Eden Prairie co-head coach Jim Williams could be overheard sharing the strategy for the evening’s challenge. “Just go right at ’em,” the coach told his players. That’s exactly what they did. It didn’t matter that the Eagles had lost to Wayzata earlier in the season in overtime. It didn’t matter that Wayzata quickly answered the Eagles’ go-ahead goal with 17 minutes to play. Nor did it matter that…

The Eden Prairie girls’ soccer team was presented with a formidable challenge under the lights on Monday night. Undefeated and No. 1 ranked Wayzata traveled to Aerie Stadium for the second meeting between the two teams. Earlier this season, the Eagles fell to the Trojans in a 4-0 contest.  “I think early in the year, we had a lot of kids trying to grow into roles that were very new for them,” Eagles’ head coach Kelly Taylor said. “And I think we’ve established more leadership and more understanding of who does what when. That takes a lot and it’s one…