Sports Roundup: Fall Sports Season Begins For Ponies

The fall sports season has descended upon the area as several autumn squads from Stillwater Area High School have begun their seasons over the past week.

Boys Soccer

The Stillwater boys soccer team is off to an undefeated start, having taken down their first three opponents with a 10-1 goal differential.

Victories over fifth-ranked Wayzata (3-1) and St. Paul Central (3-0) last Thursday and Saturday, respectively, earned the third-ranked Ponies the championship of the their own tournament.

Stillwater followed that up with a 4-0 triumph over cross-border rival Hudson (Wis.) on Monday.

Patrick Roth leads the Ponies with four goals on the year, with Eli Bjerk logging four assists; Matt Schluesner and Jared Allan netted two goals apiece this far, while goalkeeper Ben Wilhelm has made 11 saves on 12 shots faced.

The Ponies open the Suburban East Conference campaign at Hastings at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Girls Soccer

After beginning the season with back-to-back wins over Rochester Century (1-0) and Apple Valley (2-1) last Thursday and Saturday, respectively, the fourth-ranked Stillwater girls soccer team lost 2-1 to ninth-ranked Edina at home on Tuesday.

Katie Holder leads the Ponies with two goals, with Hannah Okerstrom’s two assists tops on the club; Maddie Schaak and Ali Schilling have each scored one goal apiece so far this season, as goalie Megan Holthaus has nine saves on 12 shots against.

Stillwater also opens the SEC slate at Hastings at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Girls Swimming/Diving

The Stillwater girls swimming and diving team won the season-opening SEC Relays last Thursday.

The Ponies won five events in finishing with 154 points to second-place Woodbury’s 138 points.

Kylie Burgess was on three of the winning relay squads, as was Claire Rutscher; Sophia Bisch, Jordan Duncan and Mary Knaak were on two winning relays.

Stillwater claimed a dual meet victory, 100-78, at Stillwater on Tuesday.

The Ponies won the 200-yard freestyle relay (Bisch, Mady Gockowski, Kylie Burgess, Summer Olson) and 200-yard medley relay (Rutscher, Gockowski, Bisch, Kallan Anderson).

Individually victorious were: Burgess in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle, Rutscher in the 100-yard freestyle, Anna Percival in 1-meter diving and Bisch in the 50-yard freestyle.

Stillwater hosts Hastings to open the SEC season at 6 p.m. Thursday at Stillwater Junior High School. 

Girls Tennis

After beginning the season by hosting an invitational tournament on Aug. 19, the Stillwater girls tennis team claimed a pair of 4-3 victories over Mahtomedi and Red Wing in a home triangular meet on Wednesday, Aug. 24. Individual results were not available.

Volleyball

The Stillwater volleyball team has dropped its first three matches of the year, losing 3-0 to No. 2 Bloomington Jefferson last Thursday and 3-2 to Bloomington Kennedy last Friday before also falling to No. 10 Andover on Tuesday.

Individual statistics were not available. The Ponies host Eagan next Tuesday.