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Edina edges Hopkins 2-1 in a tight Lake Conference clash

By Peter Odney, SportsEngine, 10/05/16, 10:00AM CDT

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After going down 1-0, the Hornets roared back in the second half to defeat the Royals.




Edina's John Cunningham battles for possession with Clarence Weah of Hopkins. The Hornets edged out the Royals in Wednesday's Lake Conference matchup in Edina. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine.


The keys to victory are simple for the Edina boys soccer team. 

Team speed, relentless attack, and in William Schaidler’s case, a Cookie Dough Blizzard from Dairy Queen. 

“It’s a little melty, but it feels good after a win,” Schaidler said, nursing his almost-frozen treat after the Hornets dispatched Hopkins on Wednesday night. 

“It’s all about sugar,” Schaidler added in jest. 

Sugar-fueled or not, the Hornets (12-3-0, 4-3) played like a team possessed in the latter stages of Wednesday’s win, scoring twice in the first 18 minutes of the second half and refusing to ease up in the game’s final minutes. 

“The total (sum) of us just beating down on opponents for sixty minutes,” Edina senior attacker and captain John Cunningham replied when asked about the benefits his team’s breakneck pace of play. 

“The other teams can play with us in the beginning, but in the last twenty or thirty minutes they can’t handle it anymore,” Cunningham added.

Schaidler’s game-winning goal in the 57th minute featured a deft touch past two Hopkins defenders and a threaded shot through Royals’ goalkeeper Ryan St. Clair’s arms, but Schaidler deflects all credit to the passer Matt Lindberg. 

“It was just a perfect ball by (Lindberg), and I was just trying to keep it on my feet,” Schaidler explained. 

“It just kind of worked out perfectly that (the Hopkins defenders) both stepped early, so the ball just found its way through,” Schaidler continued.  

Before Shaidler's winner, Cunningham leveled the score to 1-1, erasing the 1-0 deficit that freshman phenom forward Clarence Weah had created with his 14th goal of the season for Hopkins.

Weah’s goal was an effortless glide through the final third, ending in a deadly low shot that beat Edina goalkeeper Malachi Donofrio, but Weah’s dynamic play was subsequently bottled up by the Hornet defense. 

“We marked him tighter one-on-one, and that helped us,” Edina coach Dave Jenson said, adding that even he is sometimes entranced by Weah’s play. 

The Hornets, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 2A state coaches’ poll, will travel to Hopkins (7-6-1, 1-5) on Thursday at 5 p.m. for a quick rematch, the result of a rescheduling of an early season game.

“They have a narrow field, so it’ll be interesting tomorrow,” Jenson said. 

“We’ve always had tough games over there, so I’m lucky that we got the one of the two we needed so far,” Jenson added with a grin. 

Edina scored two goals in the second half to escape with a 2-1 win over Lake Conference rival Hopkins on Wednesday night at Edina’s Kuhlman Stadium. 

Hopkins (7-6-1, 1-5) took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half on a goal by freshman forward Clarence Weah, and then held the Hornets, ranked No. 5 in the latest Class 2A state coaches’ poll, scoreless for the first 40 minutes. 

Senior attacker John Cunningham knotted the game at 1-1 for Edina (12-3-0, 4-3-0) just over five minutes into the second frame, and William Schaidler knocked in the game-winner 12 minutes later. 

Schaidler’s goal was highlight-reel quality, as the senior dribbled between two Hopkins defenders before slipping the ball past goalkeeper Ryan St. Clair. 


Hopkins net minder Ryan St. Clair pulled down nine saves for the Royals. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine.


John Cunningham's goal for Edina tied up the contest early in the second half. Photo by Cheryl Myers, SportsEngine.

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