Page 16 Lake Conference Hockey • Thursday, December 11, 2025 sailor. mnsun. com
EDEN PRAIRIE EAGLES BOYS HOCKEY
Lake Conference Hockey
New coach brings new perspective to program
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com
Eden Prairie High’ s boys hockey team shared the Lake Conference title with Edina last winter. Both teams finished with 7-1-2 conference marks.
After the season Mike Terwilliger stepped down as head coach, leaving a leadership void at the top of the Eden Prairie program. That position was filled during the off season when EP activities director Joe Perkl named Lincoln Nguyen as Terwilliger’ s replacement.
Along with their new coach, the Eagles have some dynamic newcomers to the varsity squad. One is sophomore left wing Owen Konrad. After leading the Eagle football team with more than 1,000 yards on rushes, Konrad scored a hat trick in an early-season during a 5-5 tie against Prior Lake at Eden Prairie Community Center.
“ Owen is an athlete, for sure,” coach Nguyen said.“ His future is very bright.”
Leading the Eagles this year are two senior captains – Bennett Willmer as the starting goalie and Cameron Rice on defense. They were stalwarts for the Lake co-champs last season. The assistant captain is senior forward Cole Pitzl. The only other seniors on a young Eden Prairie roster are forwards Evan Bretz and Carter Ginal and defenseman Nick
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Senior captain Bennett Willmer anchors the Eden Prairie boys hockey team as a thirdyear starter in the net.
Bauleke.
Six of the top seven scorers from last year’ s roster graduated, so the question mark going into the season is scoring punch.
“ This is the first time some of our young guys have played in front of a big crowd,” coach Nguyen said.
One of the positives going into the season is the presence of an experienced goalie.“ Willmer is an athlete and a leader,” coach Nguyen observed.“ The first few weeks of the season, we will have some peaks and valleys, so it is nice to have his experience.”
This is Willmer’ s third year as a full-time starter in goal.
“ We will take the season one day at a time and try to make sure we are growing each day,” Nguyen said.“ The Lake Conference is the best conference in Minnesota, and we know that we will be tested every single game. We will need an outstanding effort from everyone on the team. We have the three seniors in role as captains. There are other players on the team with good leadership qualities.”
Nguyen has coached and scouted in Junior hockey and has a good grasp of how to develop players.
“ We will strive to make the players stronger, bigger and better,” he said.“ We played Hill-Murray in the season opener [ a 7-4 loss ]. Hill-Murray was a good measuring stick and showed us the things we need to work on.”
Coach Nguyen is an advocate of building a program from the bottom up.“ We want to have everyone in the program pulling on the same rope,” he said.“ And we want everyone buying into the same platform.”
The new Eagle head coach has a strong interest in input from the community and from those who coach and manage the youth hockey teams.
“ It is an exciting opportunity to put a stamp on the program,” coach Nguyen said.
Over the years, Eden Prairie has competed at a very high level. Former
MEET THE
Eagles
1 – Sophomore goalie Luke Erickson 2 – Junior defenseman Braeland Moten 4 – Sophomore defenseman Connor Adams 5 – Sophomore defenseman Oscar Allie 6 – Freshman forward BJ Thompson 7 – Senior forward Evan Bretz 8 – Sophomore defenseman Teddy Larson 9 – Junior forward Jack Peterson 10 – Sophomore forward Owen Konrad 11 – Junior Forward Stone Hall 12 – Sophomore forward Gage Elliott 15 – Sophomore defenseman Nathan Brown 16 – Senior defenseman Nick Bauleke 17 – Junior forward Will Elmquist 18 – Senior forward Cole Pitzl 19 – Junior forward Christian Lee 20 – Sophomore forward Brayden Keck 21 – Sophomore forward Luke Hanson 22 – Sophomore forward Jack Bianchi 23 – Sophomore defenseman Jayce Reed 24 – Junior forward Lucas Hendrickson 25 – Sophomore forward William Tucker 26 – Sophomore forward Benson Farm 27 – Sophomore defenseman Charlie Shultz 30 – Junior goalie Nathan Dickinson 31 – Senior goalie Bennett Wilmer 33 – Senior defenseman Cameron Rice 34 – Sophomore defenseman Cade Wagner 36 – Junior forward Caden Shogren 37 – Sophomore defenseman Will Shultz 38 – Senior forward Carter Ginal 39 – Freshman forward Riley Wolkove 41 – Junior forward Cooper Lobsinger
head coach Lee Erickson led the Eagles to three state Class AA championships.
Some of the key players Erickson coached include this year’ s University of Minnesota captain Luke Mittelstadt and long-time NHL mainstays Casey
Mittelstadt, Nick Leddy and Nick Seeler.
Some of the players on this year’ s team are looking to the next levels – Junior and college hockey. In addition to running a competitive program, coach Nguyen wants to help them secure