OAK PARK HEIGHTS — Competing in a section that features four of the top eight ranked teams in state, Stillwater did not overlook fifth-seeded St. Paul Central while cruising to a 4-0 girls soccer victory in the Section 4AAA quarterfinals on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at Stillwater Area High School.
The fourth-seeded Ponies (10-3-4) advance to face top-seeded White Bear Lake in the semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Bears (13-0-2), ranked No. 1 and the only Class AAA team without a loss this season, received a first-round bye.
The second and third seeds also advanced on Wednesday, with Woodbury (12-1-2) cruising past Tartan 4-0 and East Ridge (12-1-2) defeating Two Rivers 8-0.
Stillwater, which lost to eventual section champion White Bear Lake in the semifinals a year ago, scored twice in the first half against Central. Izzy de St. Aubin provided a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute with an assist from Rylee Lawrence. Dillan Reardon build a two-goal cushion with a goal in the 31st minute.
“I thought we played really well overall,” Ponies coach Mike Huber said. “We won a lot of 50-50 balls and we were more the aggressor in this game.”
That did lead to a high number of fouls for Stillwater — 17, compared to 3 for the Minutemen — but it was the indicative of what the coach said the Ponies will need to show going forward.
“We put a lot of pressure on them and worked hard defensively,” Huber said. “I thought we played well.”
Lawrence padded Stillwater’s lead with goals in the 47th and 54th minute, the first on an assist from Alayna Muths and the second with help from Lauren Willhaus, her second assist of the game.
“We created some good opportunities and we kind of had that work ethic we haven’t seen as consistently this year,” Huber said. “We’re looking forward to White Bear Lake on Saturday.”
The Ponies played White Bear Lake to a 3-all tie on Oct. 1.
St. Paul Central 0 0 — 0
Stillwater 2 2 — 4
St — 14:00 — Izzy de St. Aubin (Rylee Lawrence)
St — 31:00 — Dillan Reardon (Lauren Willhaus)
St — 47:00 — Lawrence (Alayna Muths)
St — 54:00 — Lawrence (Willhaus)
Shots on goal — SPC: 1; St: 13.
Corner kicks — SPC: 0; St: 7.
Fouls — SPC: 3; St: 17.
Goalie saves — SPC: NA 9; St: Reese Elzen 1.
Stillwater 4, Forest Lake 0At Oak Park Heights, playing its third game in as many days to close out the regular season, Stillwater blanked Forest Lake 4-0 in a Suburban East Conference game on Thursday, Oct. 3 at SAHS.
The victory put the Ponies (5-3-1) into a tie with Mounds View (5-3-1) for fourth place in the SEC standings behind White Bear Lake (8-0-1), Woodbury (7-1-1) and East Ridge (6-1-2).
Izzy de St. Aubin opened the scoring in the 27th minute on an assist from Abbie Kleppe. Lilli Eggum then scored an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute to build a 2-0 lead.
“It was our third game in three days so we were a little bit sluggish, which was understandable,” Ponies coach Mike Huber said. “But even with that we did a good job with what we had and scored a couple of goals early.”
Eggum, an eighth-grader, also assisted on a goal from Rylee Lawrence in the 53rd minute and Alayna Muths tacked on a goal with seven minutes remaining to provide the final margin.
“We played decently, but it was not our best,” Huber said. “We played well enough to get it done.”
Forest Lake 0 0 — 0
Stillwater 2 2 — 4
St — 27:00 — Izzy de St. Aubin (Abbie Kleppe)
St — 32:00 — Lilli Eggum (unassisted)
St — 53:00 — Rylee Lawrence (Eggum)
St — 73:00 — Alayna Muths (unassisted)
Shots on goal — FL: 6; St: 14.
Corner kicks — FL: 0; St: 7.
Fouls — FL: 3; St: 5.
Goalie saves — FL: NA 10; St: Reese Elzen 6.
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