sailor. mnsun. com Lake Conference Hockey • Thursday, December 11, 2025 Page 5
EDEN PRAIRIE EAGLES GIRLS HOCKEY
Lake Conference Hockey
Good attitudes, goaltending experience are keys
JOHN SHERMAN john. sherman @ apgecm. com
After finishing 11-16-0 last winter, the Eden Prairie High girls hockey team is looking for upward mobility in 2025-26.
The Eagles tied for fifth place in the Lake Conference standings in 2024-25 and could have moved into fourth with a win against Wayzata in a late-season contest.
Now in his fourth season as Eden Prairie’ s head coach, Steve Persian has worked with the same goalie each year. Rylee Lorton is a senior now and returns in a starting role.
“ Rylee’ s evolution the last two years has been fun to watch,” Persian said.“ She brings a calmness and doesn’ t overreact with the other team scores a goal.”
Lorton was in the net for 1,138 minutes last season and posted a 10-14-0 record. She had a respectable 2.99 goals-against average with save percentage of. 889 with 542 total saves.
“ Tough competition never changes Rylee’ s focus,” Persian said.“ Her teammates and the coaching staff have confidence in her.”
What about the defensemen who will play in front of Lorton this winter?
“ Madeline Abbott is the mainstay among our returning defensemen,” coach Persian said.“ Genevieve Streed missed last season with an injury, and she is back now.”
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN)
Eden Prairie’ s girls hockey captains are, from left to right: Seniors Sara David, Genevieve Streed and Kate Petrie.
Streed is one of three senior captains along with forwards Sara David and Kate Petrie. David had 12 points on seven goals and five assists last season while Petrie, the top returning scorer, had 14 points on nine goals and five assists. Abbott had eight assists from the blue line along with one goal.
All five of last season’ s top forwards are gone now. Ava Moe, who had 23 points on 14 goals and nine assists to lead the Eagles, has transferred to Minnetonka for her sophomore year. The next three scorers – Addy Mitchell, Ella Konrad and Natalie McNeil graduated along with another veteran skater, Lauren Pottinger.
“ Kate Petrie and Sara David are obviously very important to our offense,” coach Persian said.
Petrie and David are each in their fourth varsity season. This is also No. 4 for Streed, who first joined varsity in eighth grade. She would have been a five-year varsity skater without last year’ s injury.
The three captains are a tight-knit group.
“ Coming to the rink every day is something we look forward to,” David said.
“ The energy is super high,” Streed said.“ We had opportunities for bonding on the bus ride and in the hotel on our road trip to Grand Rapids and Hibbing.”
Without a dominant scorer among the forwards, Petrie described what the Eagles will need to do on offense:“ Work the puck in the zone and get shots on net.”
Like girls on every other high school hockey team in the state, the ultimate goal for the Eden Prairie captains is winning the Section 2AA title and playing for the state championship in St. Paul.
“ Going to state [ in high school ] is every little kid’ s dream,” Petrie said.“ We are playing a tough schedule that will get us ready for
MEET THE
Eagles
2 – Junior defenseman Peyton Ishaug 7 – Junior defenseman Peyton Penney 9 – Junior forward Paige Reisdorf 10 – Senior forward Allie Dahl 12 – Senior forward Kate Petrie 15 – Eighth-grade forward Annika Buchanan 17 – Senior defenseman Genevieve Streed 18 – Junior forward Ella Abrahamson 19 – Junior forward Quinn Bille 20 – Ninth-grade forward Vivienne Farnan 23 – Sophomore defenseman Kelsey Pottinger 25 – Junior forward Claire Solie 27 – Senior forward Sara David 34 – Eighth-grade goalie Payton Amendola 40 – Eighth-grade defenseman Evy Dunlap 41 – Junior defenseman Madeline Abbott
sections.”
“ If we make it to state, we would have more quality time with our teammates,” David said.
To qualify for state, Eden Prairie would most likely have two hurdles to clear – Minnetonka, the No. 1-ranked team in the state most of last season, and Holy Family Catholic, the team that upset Minnetonka 2-1 to win the Section 2AA championship last season.
“ In reality, we have to be ready for every playoff game because our section is so tough,” Streed said.“ Our long-term rivalry is with Minnetonka.”
Like many of the other athletes at Eden Prairie High, the Eden Prairie hockey captains plan to play sports in college. Petrie
will play hockey at St. Olaf College, David is going to Rockhurst University in Missouri for lacrosse and Streed, an All-Lake Conference softball player, will be on the diamond at Bethel University.
As they continue their careers on the hockey rink this winter, the Eagle captains are grateful for the chance to represent Eden Prairie.
“ It means the world to me to play for Eden Prairie,” Petrie said.“ I have only been here since my sophomore year. I am so excited to play here.”
“ Being an Eagle means so much to me,” Streed said.“ Being a dual-sport athlete here is so much fun.”
“ I is an honor for me to represent Eden Prairie, on and off the ice,” David said.