Edina Girls’ Hockey Senior Captain Lorelai Nelson is more than a hockey forward; she’s a center midfielder, a dedicated runner, and a motivational leader.
As a tri-sport athlete, Lorelai Nelson has played varsity sports for a combined six years. Lorelai Nelson is an aggressive athlete who reacts with enthusiasm to all of her sports: hockey, soccer, and track. While her sports’ seasons don’t directly overlap, Lorelai Nelson’s constant motivation leads to persistent practice, regardless of the time of year.
“Most of the skilled players are the ones that just compete, compete, compete and just want [to succeed] so much more than the other skilled players who don’t want it as much,” freshman and Lorelai Nelson’s sister, Josie Nelson, said. “And I think that she is literally the perfect role model for that because she is unbelievably skilled, but her tenacity and compete level are unmatched.”
Dribbling on the field
While Lorelai Nelson has been playing soccer since she was five years old, it was never her main sport. Still, she continued working on soccer, joining the Edina Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team her senior year.
“Even though [soccer] wasn’t maybe her primary… sport, she still gave more to that sport off the field than a lot of players do, and I think that makes a difference in who Lorelai is and why she is so successful in the multiple things that she does,” Edina Girls’ Varsity Soccer Coach Taylor Velazco said.
In addition to being self-motivated, Lorelai Nelson leads others by example and holds her teammates accountable. Velazco and the team recognized her leadership in the Hornet Award for representing team values and being a positive teammate who supports and encourages everyone.
“Lorelai always has a smile, and she’s really good at not allowing whatever she’s going through to impact her environment or impact her teammates or her coaches,” Velazco said. “And I think what some people might not realize or see is how much she cares and how hard she works… and how much it means to her to not only be the best she can be, but to make others better.”
Skating on the rink
Hockey runs in the Nelson family. Josie Nelson has played hockey with Lorelai Nelson for almost all of her life and is now playing with her on the Edina Varsity Girls’ Hockey Team. Lorelai Nelson’s older brother, Ricky Nelson, plays hockey at the D1 level at Grand Canyon University. Following her siblings’ footsteps, Lorelai Nelson has skated since she could walk.
Averaging 1.12 points per game, Lorelai Nelson has been a valuable member of the varsity hockey team since she joined in eighth grade. Joining varsity helped Lorelai Nelson realize hockey could be in her future. However, the turning point that made hockey one of her main interests was winning the U12 State Championship.
Since eighth grade, Lorelai Nelson has come a long way. In the 2023–24 Girls’ Varsity Hockey season, Edina won the state championship, and Lorelai began receiving college scholarship offers as a sophomore.
Once again, what sets Lorelai Nelson apart is her mindset. A consistently positive but competitive player, Josie Nelson said Lorelai Nelson was the “perfect senior captain.”
“I think she is one of the most competitive people I know on the ice,” Josie Nelson said. “She always wants the puck, she wants to win, and she will do anything it takes to get there.”
Taking strides on the track:
While track is Lorelai Nelson’s tertiary sport, she still works hard to succeed and continue growing her running skills. When she started track in fifth grade, the sport wasn’t associated with Edina. Rather, it was a fun activity to do with her friend. However, as a senior, Lorelai Nelson has combined this positive mentality and her competitiveness into an effective mindset, leading to her being named a senior captain of the team.
“There might be freshmen that are faster than her, but that’s not gonna stop her from doing anything different,” Josie Nelson said. “She’s always gonna try and build you up no matter what.”
Committing to the future
In November 2025, Lorelai Nelson signed with Penn State University for Division 1 Hockey. Josie Nelson was at the end of seventh grade when Lorelai started getting college offers and said she was “blown away” by the number and types of offers.
In addition to this year being Lorelai Nelson’s last year of high school, it’s also going to be her last year as a tri-sport athlete. With 22 combined seasons of soccer and track, the sports left a large impact on her.
“ I love being a three-sport athlete,” she said. “It just gives you a lot of variety… I’ll miss being able to play three different sports. I think it’s super fun, and it just gives you a break from playing hockey all the time.”
Even with the loss of Lorelai Nelson’s secondary sports, Velazco has no doubt that Lorelai will succeed at Penn State University.
“To be honest, I think any coach, no matter the sport or environment, would be lucky to have someone like Lorelai on their team, because they know that she’s going to give 110% at whatever she’s doing,” Velazco said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on April 9, 2026
