Class 2A boys' hockey quarterfinals: Eden Prairie rewarded in title-game rematch with Wayzata

More than 2½ periods of frustration turned into one huge sigh of relief as top-seeded Eden Prairie scored three goals in the last 6 minutes, 29 seconds of the third period to escape with a 3-1 victory over defending champion Wayzata in the most anticipated game of Thursday's Class 2A boys' hockey quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center.

After being stymied by Wayzata's Reid Waszczenko time after time, Eden Prairie finally solved the senior goaltender when defenseman Noah Deraney's slapshot from the point caromed off a Wayzata defender and over Waszczenko's glove hand, tying the score 1-1 at 10:31 of the third period.

It was Deraney's first goal of the season and it could not have come at a better time.

"I had a little chip on my shoulder from last year," Deraney said, referring to Eden Prairie's 2016 championship game loss to Wayzata. "I just wanted to contribute to my team any way I could. That was a good place to start."

The Eagles (22-4-2) cranked up the pressure after that and leaned on two Mr. Hockey finalists — forward Casey Mittelstadt and defenseman Nick Leivermann — for the game-winner.

Mittelstadt took a faceoff in the Wayzata end and pulled the puck back toward Leivermann, whose low wrist shot likely deflected off traffic in front and slipped through Waszczenko's five-hole for a 2-1 lead with 1:22 left in the third period.

Nolan Sullivan added an empty-net goal at 16:44 for the final score.

"We've kind of been a third-period team all year," he said. "We've got really good pace, and it's hard for teams to keep up with us for three periods. We've got a lot of character in the room and we were able to persevere."

Eden Prairie coach Lee Smith gave Waszczenko credit but told his team to keep the pressure on, feeling the Eagles would eventually score.