FOREST LAKE — Elevent different players collected at least one goal as part of a balanced attack in Stillwater’s 16-2 Suburban East Conference boys lacrosse victory over the Rangers on Wednesday, May 7 at Forest Lake High School.
On the heels of their first loss of the season against highly regarded Benilde-St. Margaret’s just two days earlier, the fourth-ranked Ponies (7-0 SEC, 9-1) remained unbeaten in the conference. Stillwater can wrap up at least a share of the program’s fifth league title in five seasons when the Ponies travel to Woodbury on Friday, May 10.
Anderson Wagner, Brock Lynskey, Easton Abrams, Nick Hornbuckle and Luke Geisbauer each supplied two goals for the Ponies against Forest Lake (0-7, 0-9).
“It was just a good team victory,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said.
East Ridge (6-1, 8-1) ranks second behind Stillwater in the conference standings, just ahead of White Bear Lake (5-2, 5-3) and the Ponies’ next opponent Woodbury (4-2, 6-2).
Stillwater 5 5 5 1 — 16
Forest Lake 0 0 1 1 — 2
Goals — St, Anderson Wagner 2, Brock Lynskey 2, Easton Abrams 2, Nick Hornbuckle 2, Luke Geisbauer 2, Bobby Appert, Zach Holmen, Aiden Sargent, Isaac Johnston, Jack Mellgren and Zach Longnecker; FL, Ezra Lukas and Austin Smith.
Assists — St, Appert; FL, Jake Colvin.
Saves — St, Casey Mork 5; FL, Wyatt Mate 10 and Derek Dahnke 10.
B-SM 10, Stillwater 9 (OT)
At Oak Park Heights, following a wild sequence down the stretch, third-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s emerged with a 10-9 nonconference victory over the Ponies in overtime on Monday, May 6 at Stillwater Area High School.
The Ponies trailed 8-6 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, but stormed back with three straight goals to go in front 9-8. Stillwater gained possession, but was unable to run out the clock before the Red Knights secured the ball and scored with about 15 seconds remaining to force overtime. Hunter Payer then scored on an assist from Dylan Popehn early in overtime as Benilde-St. Margaret’s escaped with the narrow victory to halt Stillwater’s eight-game winning streak.
The Red Knights (7-1) have won five state championships since 2007 and also finished as the state runner-up three times, providing a stern test for Stillwater as it attempts to climb into that neighborhood.
“It was probably the first time in our history of playing Benilde that we didn’t feel like we were just treading water and trying to survive,” Stillwater coach Peter Flock said. “We are a very talented group and we did not play to our potential and if we string a couple more passes together and make a couple more clean plays, that game turns out much differently.”
Grant Giese, Anderson Wagner and Brock Lynskey each tallied two goals for the Ponies, who fell behind 4-1 early in the second quarter and also trailed by three midway through the second before scoring twice before halftime to climb within 5-4.
Stillwater lamented some sloppy turnovers that helped the Red Knights build that early lead, but the Ponies stayed in position to challenge in the second half.
“No matter what the rankings are, Benilde is probably still considered the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing if you’re asking everyone else,” Flock said. “We were down 5-4 going into halftime and honestly didn’t think we played very well at all. It wasn’t like that feeling where they were doing things to beat us, we were kind of beating ourselves.”
Even with the loss, Flock sensed the Ponies gaining confidence with a strong showing against a program expected to contend for another state title again this season.
“It’s no longer can we play with these guys,” Flock said. “We didn’t play well and we brought this team to overtime, so that’s kind of the message to us right now that we left a lot on the table in terms of our performance.”
Casey Mork finished with six saves for the Ponies.
B-S. Margaret’s 2 3 1 3 1 — 10
Stillwater 1 3 2 3 0 — 9
Goals — B-SM, Sky Rold 3, Gus Bell 3, Dylan Popehn, Hunter Payer, Griffin Elliott and Jack Anderson; St, Grant Giese 2, Anderson Wagner 2, Brock Lynskey 2, Nicholas Hornbuckle, Isaac Johnston and Luke Geisbauer.
Assists — B-SM, Bell 3 and Popehn; St, Giese.
Saves — B-SM, Axel Esco NA; St, Casey Mork 6 and Jaden Dorgan 0.
Stillwater 12, White Bear Lake 5
At Oak Park Heights, a blistering first half propelled the Ponies to a 12-5 conference victory over White Bear Lake on Friday, May 3 at SAHS. The Bears were attempting to stay in the conference title chase, but Stillwater was crisp all over the field in taking them out of the game early.
“I think we handled business very well,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said. “We jumped out to 8-0 lead and that allowed us to start getting some depth in, which is good for us because we’re going to need to get those guys up to speed for when the weather gets hot and such. White Bear had a good third quarter and then we kind of shut the door in the fourth.”
Anderson Wanger paced the Ponies with five goals while Isaac Johnston chipped in with two goals. Luke Geisbauer provided a goal a team-high three assists.
“That one was super important because they are always one of the teams we’re competing against for that SEC title and they’re also in our section, so in terms of seeding those games are very important,” Flock said. “All of them are definitely important, but White Bear Lake is one we always kind of circle on the calendar as a big one.”
White Bear Lake 0 0 3 2 — 5
Stillwater 3 5 1 3 — 12
Goals — WBL, Charlie Woodcock 2, Preston West, Wyatt Raleigh and Finn Karni; St, Anderson Wagner 5, Isaac Johnton 2, Grant Giese, Bobby Appert, Aiden Sargent, Brock Lynskey and Luke Geisbauer.
Assists — WBL, West, Raleigh and Ben Lockwood; St, Geisbauer 3, Lynskey 2, Giese, Johnston and Wyatt Carroll.
Saves — WBL, Reid Vickstrom 19; St, Casey Mork 12.
Contact Stuart Groskreutz at stuart.groskreutz@apgecm.com
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