By Tom Schardin, Staff Writer

The Prior Lake girls soccer team is winless in its first three games, but coach David Graham is not overly concerned.

Graham likes the how his team has met the physical challenge so far and has played with a lot of intensity, even though the Lakers have just three goals. And all three of those goals came in a 3-3 tie with Burnsville on Aug. 21 in the season opener.

The Lakers (0-2-1 overall) followed with back-to-back road losses – 4-0 to Edina on Aug. 23 and 1-0 to No. 5-ranked Jefferson on Aug. 26.

Paige Kuplic: tries to get control of the ball.“We matched, if not exceeded Jefferson, with intensity and physical play,” said Graham. “I think we surprised them. I told the girls if we keep playing that style, we will win our fair share of games.”

Jefferson scored in the final minute of the game to avoid the upset.

“I told the team to be disappointed with the result, but happy with how they played,” said Graham. “Jefferson is a top-five team in the state right now.”

Graham believes Edina will soon be ranked as well. Playing on a wider field behind Braemar Ice Arena (75 yards compared to 60 for most schools), the Hornets started to wear down the Lakers over the course of the game.

“Edina used the bigger field to their advantage,” said Graham. “They have a very good team and they put a lot of pressure on us. I thought we matched them physically. We never stopped fighting. But they are too strong of team right now for our inexperience on that field.”

Against Burnsville, Graham thought his team had the case of the nerves in the first half. The Lakers trailed 2-0 at the half and was down 3-1 before rallying to tie the game.

Scoring goals for the Lakers were senior Paige Kuplic, junior Lauren Larson and sophomore Alex Citrowske.

Seniors Jenna Nelson and Chloe Winkelman each had assists.

Seniors Codie Miller and Kristine Thielen split the goaltending duties. Miller had two saves, while Thielen had one.

Miller was injured in the Jefferson game after not giving up goal. Graham said the team is trying to battle through some early season bumps and bruises. The team already lost senior captain Anna Theis to a season-ending knee injury on the first day of practice.

“Both are goalies are bruised up and few girls are playing through some leg injuries,” said Graham. “Some of the girls were a little nervous in that first game. Half of our team is first-year varsity players, so we made some mental mistakes early and got behind.

“But we got a goal early in the second half and that calmed things down,” added Graham. “We were down 3-1, but we battled back to get into overtime. The game was a tale of two halves.”

The Lakers are back on the field on Thursday, Aug. 28 (results not available at press time) when they play host to Minnetonka at 7 p.m.

The Missota Conference season starts Tuesday, Sept. 2 at Northfield at 7 p.m. The Lakers will be at home on Thursday, Sept. 4 against Holy Angels in a conference game at 5 p.m.