In the first two periods, Eden Prairie had the look of a champion. The were more physical, made fewer mistakes and capitalized when they were give the chances. Their first goal was a highlight reel saucer pass from Cory Schoo to Jared Blackowiak that split the two Stillwater defenders and Blackowiak did the rest by floating a pretty shot over the Stillwater goalie’s left shoulder.  Later, EP superstar Casey Mittelstadt got in the act on the Power Play.  Mittelstadt got loose in the slot after a faceoff and scored off of a wicked wrist shot off two posts and in to make it 2-0.  Later in the second, the most dominant player on the ice was Nick Lieverman got on the score sheet.  Lieverman, who is a future Fullback candidate for Mike Grant at EP High School, got loose in the left slot and scored to make it 3-0. At this point the game had a feel of getting away from Stillwater. Late in the second, Stillwater took another penalty and EP capitalized again when new addition Hunter Johannes scored a rebound goal off a Mittelstadt shot from the slot. At the end of two, EP was up 4-0.

The first few minutes of the third period had the same feel as the first two, two good teams with EP having the upper hand that night.  Stillwater was penalized again in the middle of the third, but instead of giving up their fourth Power Play goal, they returned the favor and Matt Stanton scored shorthanded on a nice two on one pass from Michael Kaufman to make it 4-1 with 11:00 to go.  A few minutes later, Stillwater’s Gavin Holland got a hold of a pass in front from scrappy Noah Cates and buried to make it 4-2 with 5:20 to go.  Now the game took on a completely new complexion. Instead of a “oh that was fun” for EP turned into “five minutes of hell” for EP.  EP was a team went from a team playing out the string with to a team hanging on for dear life.  Two minutes later, Matt Stanton got loose in the right slot and scored with rifle over the EP goalie’s right shoulder to make it 4-3 EP with just under three minutes to go.  Stillwater was on fire, it just took them 50 game minutes to turn up the temperature. Then finally the bottom dropped out for EP, Michael Kaufman got a loose puck in front of the EP net and stuff it home to tie the score at 4 with two minutes left.  A great comeback, indeed by the red clad Ponies. The last two minutes was all Stillwater, they applied great pressure and with under a minute to go, Nick Wiencek made a game saving stop on Noah Cates in front of the net to preserve the tie for EP who had been leading by four goals 10 minutes earlier.

One long time Bantam coach once told me, “first year Bantams have no value until after Christmas…” Meaning the jump physically from PeeWees can be a tough adjustment.  Andrew Erwin broke that stereotype last night.  He played with confidence Tuesday and showed the moxie of a second year player in his first Bantam game.  Erwin, a move-in last Summer from Maryland got a pass at the point to which he fired a high hard shot toward the net.  A shot that found it’s way through the defense off the cross bar and in.  The Stillwater Goalie never saw it.  Game over.  Just like that, EP wins a well played game 5-4 in overtime.

This was a coaches dream for both staffs entering the season.  I’m sure they both saw some promise in their teams, but many areas of improvement. EP’s staff has the “you gotta put teams away” card and Stillwater has the “if you play like that for 60 minutes” card heading into their preparation for the rest of the season.

Eden Prairie: Nick Lieverman is a special talent, he will be an impact player every night for the Eagles. Nolan Sullivan, Casey Mittelstadt and Hunter Johannes will give teams fits with their size and speed.  There is very little drop off of skill from the rest of the EP supporting cast which means they will be a contender all year. Couple question marks for EP will be consistent blue line play and goaltending.  Wiencek has shown YHH several flashes of brilliance so far this Fall, can he do it all year?

Stillwater: Matthew Stanton played Bantam B last year, it is safe to say that will be the last time that kids cut from any team.  He has great skill with the puck, great vision and has a wicked shot. Luke Manning is another kid that stood out. He’s so good, they named a street after him in Stillwater.  He moves the puck well and is very hard to knock off the puck. Tiny Noah Cates, tenth grader Gavin Holland, and Michael Kaufman round out a very talented bunch of skaters for the Ponies. Question marks for this team will be toughness and compete level.  In the first two periods, Stillwater was not very physical and let Eden Prairie dictate the pace. Against top ten teams, the Ponies will have to play hard the whole time to stay in the top 5.