OAK PARK HEIGHTS — A later than expected start only delayed the gratification for the top-seeded Stillwater boys lacrosse team after turning back White Bear Lake 10-8 in the Section 4 championship game on Wednesday, June 5 at Stillwater Area High School.
After losing to Totino-Grace in the section finals a year ago, the fourth-ranked Ponies (14-2) will be making their third trip to state in the past four seasons. This year’s quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, June 11 at Eden Prairie High School, with subsequent rounds on June 13 and 15.
Stillwater jumped out to a 3-0 first-quarter lead against the Bears (9-7) on the first of four goals from Anderson Wagner and two from Brock Lynskey. The Ponies led the entire way, but were never able to get too comfortable with the lead, either.
White Bear Lake scored just 13 seconds apart early in the second quarter to climb within 3-2, before the Ponies answered with a goal each from Wagner and Grant Giese to provide a three-goal cushion. The Bears were never able to get closer than two goals, but they remaining within three goals the first of the night.
“The most we ever got up was three and I think they got back to two most of the time,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said. “The nice thing is we kept it outside of a one-goal gap, for most of the game anyways, but we never felt comfortable. Every time we got up by three it seemed like they answered quickly back.”
The coach said the fast start was especially important against White Bear Lake, which is always difficult to play against.
“It probably just amped up the interesting things they did,” Flock said. “It was big getting up early because if you get in a gritty, one-goal or tie game with this group they just find ways to get to the net and they find ways to frustrate you on offense. Getting that cushion almost allowed the frustration to be OK, because we knew we had some cushion and could relax the minds a little bit and just let us breathe in and make smart plays.”
White Bear Lake’s last charge came in the fourth quarter when Preston West scored with 7:43 remaining to close within 9-7. Robert Appert provided an insurance goal two minutes later and, after the Bears scored again with about five minutes remaining, Stillwater was able to run out the clock.
“You can’t really, truly prepare on what the defense is going to be but you know you’re going to be thrown a bunch of different stuff,” Flock said. “The big thing with them is they’re a blue-collar team and they battle and work super hard. Their coaching staff puts together a really tough game plan and they throw a lot of different things at you, offensively and defensively. You probably saw five or six different defensive schemes today that we had to work through and adjust ourselves, so a 10-goal game offensively is actually a pretty good game because they throw some weird defenses at you and make you really work.”
Giese and Lynskey finished with two goals each for the Ponies, who also defeated the Bears 12-5 earlier this season.
“I think we just adjusted and battled,” Flock said. “They threw a lot of things at us and I think that our team just kind of rolled with the punches. There’s a lot of frustrating moments that we had to get through and some big-time players made some really big-time plays.”
Stillwater’s only two setbacks this season were one-goal nonconference losses against top-ranked Benilde-St. Margaret’s and No. 2-ranked Prior Lake, but the Ponies also showed some vulnerability while posting one-goal victories against conference opponents East Ridge, Woodbury and Mounds View.
“We had a couple close games like Mounds View and like some of those where we were still just struggling with personnel and I think we’ve got a good thing going right now,” Flock said. “We definitely kind of have like this embarrassment of riches with a lot of good talent and a lot of good athleticism.
“It’s taken almost the entire season to really find who fits in the best spot. We’ve we’ve moved some guys around into different positions and in different spots simply because they were all good, but we almost needed to find the right system and the right pieces to all go together and I think we’re peaking very much at the right time right now.”
The game started about an hour later than anticipated due to a brief storm that rolled through and interrupted the girls section championship game earlier in the evening.
“I’m glad that we got all the way through, because that can definitely impact momentum and all that,” said Flock, who said the team dealt with the adjusted start time while jumping out to that early lead.
“We let the kids go in the locker room,” Flock said. “We got some fruit and peanut butter and stuff like that and just kind of waited it out and then it cleared up super fast and we got going quicker than actually we thought.”
And while the Ponies are looking forward to another trip to the state tournament, they won’t have the advantage of playing at home this year with Eden Prairie and Chaska serving as host sites.
“For the first time for this program we’re not playing a state tournament at our own house, so we’re traveling for the first time,” Flock said. “But the big thing with this group is that we’re not afraid of anyone and we’re battle hardened.
“We played Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Prior Lake to one-goal games so we know what to expect from the top teams and we know that we can play with them as well. What’s exciting about this group is that as long as they continue to play good, a hard blue-collar, unselfish game, they can play with anyone — and not only play with anyone, but I would say we can play above most in the state.”
White Bear Lake 0 3 3 2 — 8
Stillwater 3 3 3 1 — 10
Goals — WBL, Preston West 2, Finn Karni 2, Griffin Ziccardi, Wyatt Raleigh, Gavin Huot and Charlie Woodcock; St, Anderson Wagner 4, Grant Giese 2, Brock Lynskey 2, Keiran Jones and Robert Appert.
Assists — WBL, Ben Lockwood; St, Giese 2, Lynskey, Isaac Johnston and Jones.
Saves — WBL, NA; St, Casey Mork 8.
Stillwater 14, Mahtomedi 3
At Oak Park Heights, facing the team that ended its state tournament aspirations in the section finals a year ago, the Ponies left little doubt in a convincing 14-3 semifinal victory over Mahtomedi (6-9) on Monday, June 3 at SAHS.
Ponies goaltender Casey Mork allowed just three goals while making 18 saves.
“Some of them were defensive credit where they had to shoot from places that were kind of forced,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said.
Stillwater was precise with the ball and outscored the Zephyrs 4-0 in the second to carry a 9-2 lead into the intermission.
“Defensively it was an unreal game,” Flock said. “They are a tough riding team, so getting the ball to the other side of the field is a tough challenge and we did that very well.”
Grant Giese and Anderson Wagner delivered four goals apiece for the Ponies, who also received two each from Brock Lynskey and Luke Geisbauer.
Mahtomedi 2 0 0 1 — 3
Stillwater 5 4 2 3 — 14
Goals — St, Grant Giese 4, Anderson Wagner 4, Brock Lynskey 2, Luke Geisbauer 2, Aiden Sargent and Keiran Jones.
Assists — St, Isaac Johnston 3, Giese 2, Geisbauer 2, Appert and Wagner.
Saves — St, Casey Mork 18.
Stillwater 24, Totino-Grace 6
At Oak Park Heights, the Ponies had little trouble in a 24-6 section quarterfinal victory over Totino-Grace on Friday, May 31 at SAHS.
Grant Giese, Zach Holmen and Brock Lynskey each collected for goals for Stillwater while Anderson Wagner notched a hat trick to go along with two assists. Easton Abrams also chipped in with two tallies.
Totino-Grace 6
Stillwater 24
Goals — St, Grant Giese 4, Zach Holmen 4, Brock Lynskey 4, Anderson Wagner 3, Easton Abrams 2, Bobby Appert, Aiden Sargent, Austin Novotny, Nicholas Hornbuckle, Isaac Johnston, Luke Geisbauer and Keiran Jones.
Assists — St, Wagner 2, Appert, Holmen, Sargent, Abrams, Hornbuckle, Jack Mellgren, Geisbauer and Zachary Longnecker.
Saves — St, Casey Mork 2 and Jaden Dorgan 0.
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