Senior Rachel Werdin has "pipes” written in black Sharpie on the handle of her stick. It's her nickname, coined by the Eden Prairie coaching staff, and refers to the ongoing joke in the Eagles' locker room that Werdin can only hit the post when she shoots.
Her father even finds the name fitting, having watched Werdin ring pipe after pipe the past three years.
Despite scoring twice in Eden Prairie’s 3-0 home win against Lakeville South in the season opener Thursday night, Werdin may not be able to shed the nickname after she hit the pipe of the empty net in the final minute of the game.
“She would have got the (hat trick) if she hit the empty net,” Eagles head coach Jamie Grossman said.
Earlier this week Werdin practiced with black tape on her stick and found the net often. She stuck with the set up for the first period, but had no luck finding an opening against Cougars goaltender Chloe Crosby.
“I told him [Grossman] I’ll play with it in the first period. If I don’t score, I’m changing to white tape,” Werdin said.
The change occurred and paid dividends as Werdin scored top shelf past Crosby with five seconds remaining in the second period, giving the Eagles a comfortable two-goal cushion following eighth-grader Sydney Langseth’s goal with 23 seconds remaining.
Prior to the two-goal flurry in the final minute of the second period, an Eagles' goal was waved off due to an Eden Prairie player crashing into the net.
"You gotta overcome adversity, and our kids, to their credit, didn’t get rattled and stuck with it," Grossman said.
“When we went into the locker room after the second period, we were all having fun together, which really helps us scoring in the third,” Werdin said. “When you’re having fun, you play the best hockey.”
Werdin scrapped home her own rebound on the power play for the Eagles’ final goal of the game, but she was seemingly more excited for Langseth’s first career goal.
“I told my mom today, 'I hope Sydney scores.' That was my goal today was to get her one,” she said.
Expected to have a down year after graduating three all-state selections who were also four-year starters, Eden Prairie (1-0) is enjoying a developing youth movement behind seven seniors.
“I think it’s a nice balance having a big group of seniors who are all solid players, and we have some young talent coming up,” Grossman said.
Not a recent development, sophomore Alexa Dobchuk opened her second season as the Eagles' starting goaltender and made 19 saves to record her second career shutout.
“I think we have a really deep program. It’s easier for the underclassmen to move up and play at a higher level.” she said.
Ranked behind No. 2 Minnetonka, No. 3 Edina and No. 4 Wayzata in the Class 2A coaches' poll, No. 5 Eden Prairie's Lake Conference schedule is often regarded as one of the toughest in the league.
Each game this season will be a test for the Eagles, and their most potentially difficult matchup could be on Saturday when they face two-time defending Class 2A champion and No. 1-ranked Hill-Murray.
Werdin believes her team can match the Pioneers, who are coming off a 3-1 win over Class 1A runner-up Blake.
“We have to play aggressive against them and challenge their goalie a lot,” she said. “They’re a fast team - we’re a fast team - I think it’s nothing we can’t handle."