After Eden Prairie dispatched Lakeville South 4-0 on Thursday, Ben Steeves’ phone vibrated with Snapchats and text messages from around the country. 

Congratulators and well-wishers aplenty reached out to the Mr. Hockey finalist, who grew up in New Hampshire and also played in Michigan after he scored two goals and added an assist in his first experience with the Class AA State Tournament. 

“It was really cool seeing that everyone’s watching and keeping track and keeping an eye on our team,” Steeves said.

Steeves wasn’t surprised by the level of attention paid to his Thursday afternoon game, given what he has witnessed at the Class AA State Tournament banquet the previous evening. 

“During the banquet, one of the videos that were made was asking NHL players about what they love about the state tournament, and they went on, and on, and on listing things,” Steeves said with a chuckle. 

“That just shows how much they care about it, so I knew it would be a blast.” 

Steeves and his loaded Eden Prairie group dismantled the man-coverage employed by Lakeville South and defensive specialist head coach Janna Kivihalme in the win, with Steeves scoring a highlight-reel goal by taking advantage of arguably the Cougars’ greatest strength.  

“We kind of figured out that if you can beat the guy that’s on you, you can just take it to the net, and nobody will come to you because they stay on other guys,” Steeves said, indirectly praising the level of discipline with which the Cougars defend. “When I put it through the guy’s stick, I just drove the net and buried it.”

Kivihalme can pinpoint where things broke down for his team in its own zone but admitted that the Eden Prairie scoring threats had the talent to overwhelm even the best scheme. 

“We tried to put the defensive personnel out there, our top-four always against that line,” Kivihalem said, referring to the Eagles’ top unit of Steeves, North Dakota commit Jackson Blake and Minnesota commit John Mittelstadt. 

“They have a few players where, if you give them a shot or two, it can end up in the back of the net,” Kivihalme added.

Kai Stansberry scored the first goal of the game for the Eagles, followed by a Luke Mittelstadt tally. The 2-0 lead may have seemed slim on the scoreboard, but the Eagles dominated play.

“Usually the team that shows up early in a day game wins,” Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith said. “The kids seemed really prepared in the morning, but you never know what it’s gonna do to them when you get on the big stage,” Smith continued. 

“They were ready to go from the drop of the puck all the way through.”

The Eagles (23-5-1) will face Blake on Friday night in the semifinal round, while Lakeville South draws Maple Grove in the consolation bracket.