The Stillwater adapted floor hockey team placed fourth in the CI Division of the state tournament on March 8-9 at Coon Rapids High School.
The team, which includes players from Mahtomedi, finished the season with an 8-4 record while moving up a spot after capturing the consolation title at state a year ago.
“I was proud of how we ended up,” Stillwater coach Jon McAllister said. “Last year we were consolation champions so finishing fourth was a big deal for our program.”
The Ponies feature many players who contributed to a fourth-place finish in the adapted soccer state tournament in the fall. McCallister has coached the adapted floor hockey team since its inaugural season in 2018 and this was the program’s second appearance at state.
After opening with a 13-3 victory over the St. Cloud Area Crush in the quarterfinals on Friday, Stillwater was stopped by eventual champion Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville 16-0 in the semifinals on Saturday. Dakota United then defeated Stillwater 12-7 in the third-place game.
Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville (11-0) also cruised to a 13-3 victory over New Prague/TCU/LSH/Belle Plaine/Jordan (9-2) in the state championship game. It was the second straight state title for B/F/L, which follows a state runner-up showing in 2022. The same cooperatively sponsored program produced the adapted soccer state champion this fall and the adapted softball title winners last spring.
McAllister was proud of his team getting as far as it did. Stillwater’s only two losses during the regular season came against the teams in the state finals and the loss to New Prague was by just one goal. Stillwater also scored a 5-0 victory over Dakota United on Jan. 30.
“This was the best regular season record we’ve ever had,” said McAllister, whose team won the consolation title a year ago when the state tournament was held at Bloomington Jefferson High School. “The game we played Dakota United in the regular season, that was the first time we’d ever beaten them in floor hockey so that was a big accomplishment.”
The Ponies earned a spot in the state field with a 16-4 victory over St. Michael-Albertville/Buffalo/Monticello on Feb. 28 at SAHS.
Mason Mora-Clark has been the leading scorer for Stillwater throughout the season and he matched the single game state tournament record with 11 goals in the team’s opening-round victory over St. Cloud. He joined existing record-holders Tom Connelly of Anoka-Hennepin (1995), Alex Palma of New Prague/TCU/LeSueur-Henderson (2013), Mark Bazile of Maple Grove (2015) and Natalya Hawley of Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville (2019).
Ben Stoffer and Owen Donar also supplied a goal each in the victory over St. Cloud.
Mora-Clark also produced all seven goals in Stillwater’s loss to Dakota United in the third-place game. It was a more balanced attack for the Hawks (7-6), who received three goals apiece from Makai Smith and Kyle Jacobson.
“It went back and forth and was a really competitive game,” McAllister said. “It was one of the most competitive an intense games we played all season. Part of that was because it was the state tournament and the last game of the season, so everybody kind of left everything on the floor.”
Stillwater should be strong again next season with a strong group expected to return. Defensemen Madeline Buse, forward Gabriel King and forward Owen Donar were the only seniors on the team — compared to nine juniors.
“I thought last year we definitely grew a lot and were a lot better at the end of the season than when we started, so I was kind of expecting us to be pretty good,” McAllister said. “We beat the teams we should have beaten and hung in there in a couple of the other games where the teams were kind of dominant.
“There’s a large group of juniors so I expect that next year that group will be the main core so I would expect to just as well.”
Goaltender Chase McCann is one of the juniors in that group. He joined Mora-Clark in getting named to this year’s 12-member All-Tournament Team.
Stronger defense in front of McCann was one of the key factors to a successful season, the coach suggested.
“Mason did score a lot of goals, but it wasn’t all him,” McAllister said. “I feel like compared to previous years there was more kids scoring and we definitely improved upon our passing and finding the open person. Those were the big things, and I think definitely having Chase being the good goaltender and improving our defense.”
McCann and Mora-Clark were also named to the all-conference team (Minnesota Adaptive Athletics Association CI South Division) while juniors Wesley Hoveland and Mubarak Adem received honorable mention all-conference recognition.
Mora-Clark, McCann, Hoveland and Buse served as captains this year’s team. It was announce at the team’s postseason awards banquet on March 10 that Stoffer will join Mora-Clark, McCann and Hoveland in serving as captains next year.
“It was a great season and I’m really proud of the kids and how they performed,” McAllister said. “I’m looking forward to next year and hopefully even improving more.”
A special education teacher in the district since 1999, McAllister added that he sees the value in participation that extends beyond wins and losses.
“The kids with cognitive delays deserve the opportunity to play extra-curricular sports like other kids and this is something they can continue to do as adults,” he said. “I think those life-long skills and recreation skills benefit everyone, not just them. That’s a benefit that will help them into adulthood.”
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