As Usual, Ponies Will Get Big Test to Open the Soccer Season

In seven days, on Aug. 25, the Stillwater boy’s soccer team will begin its season in the annual Stillwater Area High School Tournament against Wayzata.

Last year the Ponies finished third in the state, earning a 1-0 victory against Lakeville North to conclude the season.

It was an impressive season, led by talented seniors and seasoned underclassmen as the Ponies went 19-4-1 and 7-1-0 in Suburban East Conference (SEC) play. The lone conference loss was a 2-1 home defeat to White Bear Lake.

On numerous occasions, Stillwater head coach Phil Johnson has said he loves the opening tournament his team plays in, because it draws quality competition, but more importantly, it gives Johnson and his coaching staff some substance to base where the team is at in terms of contending.

A year ago, Stillwater lost to Spring Lake Park to open the season, but were able to quickly bounce back and win 14 of the remaining 17 regular season games, which helped them earn a No. 5 state ranking.

One of the reasons why Stillwater was so dominant a year ago was the play of goalkeeper Brett Ylonen, who had 17 shutouts and broke the all-time state record for career shutouts, previously held by another former Pony and current assistant, Matt Carlson.

Ylonen has graduated, which leaves a question mark in net, but not as big as other teams may have.

On a consistent basis, Johnson and his staff have found a way to get great keepers. On top of that, Johnson has Carlson on his side, aforementioned, knows a thing or two about playing between the pipes.

Leading goal scorer Patrick Roth is back for his junior season. He had 11 goals and 15 points, both team leads last season.

Time will tell if Stillwater will have a go-to goal scorer or be more of a balanced attack. Whatever the case may be, Johnson has found a way to get the best out of his players for quite some time.

His players are extremely loose, but dedicated, competitive and determined to win.

There is a wealth of focus and drive from the Ponies as the game goes on and Stillwater is often the aggressor in close games on the pitch.

Afterward, win, lose or draw, Johnson’s postgame speech usually consists of how proud he is of the effort by his players and if there is a negative, he finds a way to deliver the message in a way that everything will be just fine moving forward.

So, expectations will be high as the 2011 season starts for one of the notoriously strong teams in all of the Stillwater athletic programs.

Wayzata comes to town next week and the Ponies will see exactly where they stand, very, very early.