The Prior Lake boys hockey team had little trouble clearing the first playoff hurdle.

The top-seeded Lakers scored three goals in the first period en route to a 5-1 home win over eighth-seeded New Prague in the Section 2AA quarterfinals Feb. 20.

Junior Matt Beaty had a pair of goals to lead Prior Lake, while senior Hunter Lincoln had two assists.

The Lakers (18-5-3 overall) will take on fourth-seeded Chaska (15-9-2) in the semifinals Feb. 22 at Braemar Ice Arena in Edina at 4 p.m. Second-seeded Eden Prairie (20-5-1) will face third-seeded Minnetonka (13-12-1) in the other semifinal at noon.

The winners meet for the title Feb. 26 at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis at 8 p.m. Eden Prairie is the defending champion.

In the win over New Prague, Beaty scored his first goal 41 seconds into the game. Senior Laz Kaebel scored at the 8:05 mark of the first period and sophomore Alex Bump tallied 4:29 later to put the Lakers up 3-0.

Beaty also got the Lakers off to fast start in the second period, scoring 25 seconds into the frame. Senior Preston Lindholm added a third-period goal for Prior Lake.

Lindholm, sophomores Will Schumacher, Justin Kingery and Jackson Anderson and seniors Parker Long and Beau Kennedy each had one assist.

Sophomore Trevor Boschee made 10 saves in goal for the Lakers.