Maycie Neubauer and Mady Richert have had little trouble putting the ball in the net this season.
Both have picked up their goal-scoring touch even more at the right time.
Richert had four goals and four assists, Neubauer had a hat trick and an assist, and Stillwater routed Minnetonka 18-5 Tuesday in a state girls lacrosse quarterfinal at Chaska High School.
Cassidy Keykal had her first hat trick of the year. Crimson Keykal, Ava Mosley and Rayna Malmberg added two goals each for the tournament’s fourth seed.
When breaking the postgame huddle, the Ponies say “Family.”
“We played it just like any other game. Our big thing is team and playing together will get us as far as we can go,” Neubauer said.
That next step will be a big test.
Stillwater (13-3) will face No. 1 Lakeville South at 5 p.m. Thursday at Eden Prairie High School. The title game is scheduled for 3:30 Saturday in Eden Prairie.
Undefeated Lakeville South beat Stillwater 16-4 a month ago. The Cougars routed Cretin-Derham Hall in their quarterfinal matchup.
Neubauer, also a top Alpine skier at Stillwater but will play lacrosse at Florida Southern, has at least three goals in five of her past six games. Her 32 goals this season include six games with three goals, one four-goal outing and a five-goal game.
A junior, Richert has a team-best 51 goals. She has five four-goal games, including three of her last four outings, and a trio of five goals. She has scored at least three goals in 11 or her 16 games.
“Me and May we’re kind of like best family friends so there’s just a lot of chemistry there, and we kind of know where each other is. And we’re able to use that to our advantage,” Richert said.
Goals by Neubauer, Indira Capelle, Crimson Keykal and Richert gave the Ponies a 4-0 first-quarter lead, the middle two on textbook feeds from Marit Wolden and Mosley.
Ava Wixo got fifth-seeded Minnetonka (14-3) on the board early in the second, but Neubauer, Cassidy Keykal, Malmberg and Mosley scored in a 2 minute, 10 second span for a 9-1 lead less than four minutes later.
“Lacrosse is all about streaks and who’s feeling hot. There’s just no stopping us today. We all came together and peaked at the right time,” said Richert.
Stillwater had 26 shots on goal in the game and scored on five of its six third-quarter shots for a 15-1 advantage.
Minnetonka had just 10 shots on goal for the game.
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