CHASKA — Stillwater has undoubtedly arrived as one of the top boys lacrosse teams in the state, but the Ponies had mixed emotions after placing fourth in the state tournament.
The second-seeded Ponies fell to Eden Prairie 12-9 in the third-place game on Saturday, June 15 at Chaska High School. It was the third time in four seasons Stillwater has advanced to the state semifinals before finishing fourth in 2021 and third in 2022.
“We’re not going to lie, we think we could have been higher for sure,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said. “We felt we had a team that could challenge for the whole thing, but we can’t take away from what for us was one of the most successful seasons we’ve had. We got a No. 2 seed and that’s the first time that has happened, and I think those final four teams on any given day could have given anyone a real run for that championship.”
So the Ponies (15-4) can feel appreciation for the season they had, which included Suburban East Conference and Section 4 titles, while also adding to their desire to climb that next step. In addition to third-place Eden Prairie, Stillwater’s only losses this season came against state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s, state runner-up Lakeville North in the semifinals and Prior Lake, which lost to Eden Prairie in the Section 6 semifinals.
“Big picture, it’s our third trip to the semifinals in four years, which is a pretty good ratio and most teams can’t say that,” Flock said. “But even the third year getting knocked out in the semifinals puts in perspective how hard it really is. For the guys that are returning, it’s another statement of don’t get comfortable and we need to be peaking come state tournament time.”
Eden Prairie (13-6) lost four of its first seven games this season, but survived consecutive one-goal victories in the section tournament and was riding a six-game winning streak until falling to Benilde-St. Margaret’s 11-7 in the state semifinals.
The Ponies were unable to contain Danny Burke, who delivered five goals and an assist.
“They had one offensive player who really gave us fits,” Flock said. “But other than that, they took care of the ball and their goalie (Aiden Chipongian) made saves. It was just a complete game.”
The fifth-seeded Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead before goals by Bobby Appert IV, Grant Giese and Brock Lynskey evened the score. It remained tight the rest of the way, with Stillwater surging in front 6-5 on a goal from Lynskey in the second quarter.
“They got up 3-0 really quick,” Flock said. “We were able to tie it up and then it was a one-goal margin, but certainly we felt like they were in a groove and we were still trying to fight through things a little bit.”
Eden Prairie, however, scored four straight goals to move in front 9-6 and the Ponies were unable make up the difference down the stretch.
“We kind of got caught into the unforced turnovers and throwing the ball into spots we didn’t need to,” Flock said. “The main stat line would be the unforced turnover area, we beat ourselves to use the cliché term there.”
Game times for the boys and girls on Saturday were moved up due to anticipated storms and the championship games were held simultaneously at different sites.
“I would say the first half and maybe the first three quarters was fine, then it started to sprinkle and once it did it really started,” Flock said.
Lynskey finished with four goals to lead the Ponies while Isaac Johnston added two tallies.
Stillwater was unable to keep the pressure on while plagued by turnovers.
“Minimizing mistakes was the big one,” Flock said. “We felt like they had the ball for a massive amount of time. We did pretty well on face-offs, but turned it over a lot.”
The Ponies carried high expectations throughout the season and finishing the season with consecutive losses only adds to their determination going forward, the coach suggested.
“Luckily we had a phenomenal senior group, but their strength was in their leadership and they set up our team moving forward,” Flock said. “We only lose about four seniors from this group that played at state.”
• Stillwater junior Luke Geisbauer was named to the 12-member All-Tournament Team.
Eden Prairie 5 1 3 3 — 12
Stillwater 4 2 0 3 — 9
Goals — EP, Danny Burke 5, Oscar Berggren 3, David Ivey, Johnny Kleis, Max Kukla and Brady Palmer; St, Brock Lynskey 4, Isaac Johnston 2, Grant Giese, Bobby Appert IV and Luke Geisbauer.
Assists — EP, Burke, Cameron Rice and Kleis; St, Giese and Geisbauer.
Saves — EP, Aiden Chipongian NA; St, Casey Mork 12.
L. North 17, Stillwater 5
At Chaska, after cruising to a 17-3 victory over Minnetonka two days earlier, the Ponies were on the other side of a 17-5 setback against third-seeded Lakeville North in the state semifinals on Thursday, June 13 at Chaska High School.
The Panthers (14-5), who were stopped by Benilde-St. Margaret’s 18-10 in the state title game, rode twin brothers Blake and Cason Piscitiello to a 10-1 halftime lead and did not let up after the intermission.
“They scored from all over the place,” Ponies coach Peter Flock said. “We just did to Minnetonka what Lakeville North did to us. We just could not find a groove or flow in that game and Lakeville North was just in their flow the whole time.”
North also controlled 16 of 24 face-offs and that was too much for the Ponies to overcome against a team that was firing on all cylinders.
“Their face-off guy is a difference maker,” Flock said. “So our possession percentage was way down and the twin brothers could not miss. It felt like every shot they took was a good shot, nothing was going wide or getting batted down. It felt like everything was going for them and they’ve done that to a lot of teams. Based on what we saw on film, we were well prepared, but we didn’t expect that much perfection. They simply did not miss, and I don’t remember them dropping a pass. They were in a groove and it seemed impossible to get them out of it.”
Brock Lynskey and Isaac Johnston collected two goals apiece for the Ponies. Goaltender Casey Mork finished with 12 saves.
“Even though we weren’t winning (face-offs) we were still getting the ball on the ground a lot and could have capitalized on that,” Flock said. “It was unforced turnovers again and that bled into the Eden Prairie game.
“Both our games had the same story. We were finding mistakes and making mistakes that we weren’t in the first game of the state tournament and in our section playoffs. When you go to the state tournament against those caliber of teams, you can’t expect success when you’re shooting yourself in the foot.”
Lakeville North 5 5 4 3 — 17
Stillwater 1 0 3 1 — 5
Goals — LN, Blake Piscitiello 5, Carson Piscitiello 4, Quinn Power 3, Andy Slattery 3 and Lane Johnson 2; St, Brock Lynskey 2, Isaac Johnston 2 and Keiran Jones.
Assists — LN, C. Piscitiello 2, Power, B. Piscitiello, Slattery, Jackson Whalen and Johnson; St, Luke Geisbauer 4 and Easton Abrams.
Saves — LN, Tate Bouman 7; St, Casey Mork 12.
Most Popular
Comments / 0