Tuesday didn’t mark Stillwater’s best start to a game this season. The third-seeded Ponies trailed Maple Grove 4-3 early in the second quarter of the state lacrosse quarterfinals in Chaska.
The third frame was a goalfest between the two teams that left Stillwater leading 12-10 with one stanza to play.
But all was well that ended well, as Stillwater shut out the No. 6 seed in the final frame to secure a 16-10 victory.
“I think we’re pretty confident because we understand that you’re not always going to win every game by 10 goals,” senior attacker Madylyn Richert said. “It’s state. Every team here is good, it’s going to be close at certain points. One goal, one stop, everything around the field, that all builds up to a win.”
The Ponies will meet Park in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday in Eden Prairie.
It figures that a slow start wouldn’t linger for a perennial state participant such as Stillwater. But the response Tuesday was impressive given this is an unusually young Ponies team. Stillwater features just three seniors, but those three continue to step up in a big way.
Richert scored six goals, Gretchen Wenner scored twice and Rayna Malmberg had a goal and three assists. They led with the play, but also their voices, as they delivered prominent messages in the postgame pep talk.
“I think just coming in, we all realized everyone had to step up (this season),” said Richert, one of few returning starters from a 2024 team that graduated 11 seniors. “The younger girls were going to play, and (it was) teaching them the ropes of what works, what doesn’t and just building us as a team and a family.”
That family spent that postgame chat highlighting the contributions they witnessed players throughout the roster in the victory, big and small. Stillwater coach Carly Fedorowski said it’s been “fun to watch” her team’s evolution this spring.
“Everyone plays together, and that’s important,” she said. “Our senior class of three is awesome. They keep leading, and they’ve done a great job.”
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