MAPLEWOOD — Facing a team that served up a wake-up call two weeks earlier, the Stillwater girls hockey team tackled the latest challenge with a 4-2 victory over surging Woodbury in the semifinals of the Section 4AA tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Aldrich Arena.
The second-seeded Ponies (18-8-1) advanced to face top-seeded Hill-Murray (23-3-1) in the finals on Thursday, Feb. 15 at Aldrich Arena. The Pioneers, who advanced with a 5-0 semifinal victory over White Bear Lake, lost to eventual state champion Gentry Academy in the finals a year ago, but have won the section in seven of the last 11 seasons. Hill-Murray also defeated the Ponies 4-0 earlier this season.
Stillwater already secured its fifth straight Suburban East Conference championship when it skated to a 6-all tie with a Woodbury team that set a program record for victories this season. It was part of a rough stretch that helped the Ponies refocus down the stretch.
“We chose to close the book on the 6-6 tie and treat Woodbury like a brand new team rather than thinking back to a game where we gave up six goals,” Ponies coach Annie Cashman said. “The No. 1 key was to treat them as a section opponent and play our kind of hockey.
“In a lot of ways we’ll look back on that night as the turning point of our season. The Roseville/Mahtomedi loss, a tie against Woodbury and a lackluster effort against East Ridge that forced us to ask some tough questions of the coaches and players. Do we have the right mix in the lineup and the forecheck and are we playing defense the way we want to. It was a combination of where we were close, but not where we want to be.”
Stillwater showed improvement while losing to highly regarded Andover in the regular season finale and a 5-1 victory over North St. Paul/Tartan in the section quarterfinals.
After a scoreless opening period against the Royals (20-5-2), Brooke Nelson broke through for the Ponies with a power play goal on an assist from Addy Finn just 24 seconds into the second period.
Woodbury answered with power play goals of its own from Natalie Meeder and Maddison Boone at 8:42 and 12:46 of the period, but Nelson answered less than a minute later to pull Stillwater even at 2-all going into the third.
“She recently missed a few goals she would normally bury, but she always scores in big games,” Cashman said. “That was a back-breaking play. They just got the lead and we came right back and scored before the second period ended.”
Stillwater outshot the Royals 14-6 in the third period, taking the lead on a goal from Brynne Laska at 7:31 on assists from Josie St. Martin and Alexa March. Josephine Lange, one of the top-scoring defensemen in the state with 18 goals and 31 assists, closed out the scoring with a power play goal at 11:41 to provide a 4-2 margin.
“We got to five-on-five hockey in the third period and had possession most of the time,” Cashman said.
After playing a rugged nonconference schedule this season, the Ponies played just one game each during the last two weeks of the regular season, hoping to extend their season with a state tournament apperance for the first time since 2021.
“I think the biggest thing for us is we were able to get healthy and rested and I think everyone is contributing,” Cashman said.
Ponies goaltender Lily Timmons finished with 24 saves.
“Lily didn’t give up anything even strength,” Cashman said. “She gave us a really controlled, consistent game back there and that’s what we needed.”
Woodbury 0 2 0 — 2
Stillwater 0 2 2 — 4
First period — No scoring.
Second period — 1. St, Brooke Nelson (Addy Finn) pp, :24; 1. Wo, Natalie Meeder (Paige Fasching, Hailey Graunke) pp, 8:42; 2. Wo, Maddison Boone (Meeder, Laini Gnetz), pp, 12:46; 2. St, Nelson (Alexa March, Josie St. Martin) 13:26.
Third period — 3. St, Brynne Laska (St. Martin, March) 7:31; 4. St, Josephine Lang (Finn, St. Martin) pp, 11:41.
Penalties — Wo, 5-10:00; St, 6-12:00.
Saves — Wo (Alyssa Polaski) 7-5-12—24; St (Lily Timmons) 9-9-6—24.
Stillwater 5, NSP/Tartan 1
Nothing came easy against gritty North St. Paul/Tartan, but the Ponies eventually pulled away for a 5-1 section quarterfinal victory on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the St. Croix Valley Rec Center.
The second-seeded Ponies held a 40-6 advantage in shots on goal, but remained tied 1-all with less than four minutes remaining in the second period when Josephine Lang scored on the power play to put Stillwater in front.
Josie St. Martin followed with the second of her three goals at 14:55 of the period to build a 3-1 lead.
Stillwater padded its lead with a goal from Brynne Laska 19 seconds into the third period and St. Martin scored on the power play four minutes later to provide the final margin.
Nicole James finished with 35 saves for North St. Paul/Tartan (9-17).
“Watching the way they battled, I just really respect their kids and how hard they worked and they gave it all,” Cashman said. “They don’t have a JV team and play 12 or 13 kids and their goalie just played her heart out. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for those kids.”
North/Tartan 0 1 0 — 1
Stillwater 1 2 2 — 5
First period — 1. St, Josie St. Martin (Grace Cheney, Josephine Lang) 11:20.
Second period — 1. NSP/Tar, Emily Knoblauch (Lilli Wold) pp, 5:29; 2. St, Lang (St. Martin, Cheney) pp, 13:19; 3. St, St. Martin (Lang, Brooke Nelson) 14:55.
Third period — 4. St, Brynne Laska (unassisted) :19; 5. St, St. Martin (Addy Finn, Nelson) pp, 4:36.
Penalties — NSP/Tar 3-6:00; St, 3-6:00.
Saves — NSP/Tar (Nicole James) x-x-x—35; St (Lily Timmons) 3-1-1—5 and (Haley Solnitzky) x-x-0—0.
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