Stillwater vs Benilde-St. Margaret’s RECAP

In what was probably the most anticipated matchup of the first week on the boys side of things, the game was not as exciting as I think many of us hoped. A combination of a LOT of factors turned this one into a slower, sloppier game that we probably woudln’t expect from either of these teams come later in the year. Benilde came out on top with an 8-2 win - a lower scoring game than maybe many anticipated.

First notes for me were how uncomfortable Stillwater looked passing/catching. Both teams were in their first game of the season, and there was a slight drizzle all day, so, some sloppy play is to be expected but BSM looked way more polished with the stick skills. I don’t know what it was, but, Stillwater just didn’t seem to have the stick skills anywhere near what I expected. Maybe a lot of their players are multi-sport varsity athletes and didn’t pick the stick up much in the off-season or pre-season, but it wasn’t up to my standard for a top 5ish team. This really limited their ability to do anything on offense. The BSM defense was smart, athletic and strong, but, Stillwater was winning matchups and missed some very easy passes that would have led to quality shots. This just killed any chance of them being able to win this game.

Stillwater’s goalie was solid and sounds like he’s only a freshman. Getting a lot of hype and certainly looked to be a varsity caliber keeper - so, that should give Stillwater confidence on the back end for the next 4 years.

BSM and Stillwater looked great on Defense. Athletic and Disciplined and there were not a lot of fouls. Stillwater was locking off at times, not sure if it was a specific person or just trying to shut off adjacent passes, but, they were able to slow BSM down and cause some turnovers that BSM does not typically make. Good game planning/adjustments by Stillwater there to try and stay in the game. BSM just stayed true to fundamental team defense making Stillwater find a great shot 2-3 passes away and they could not do it.

I think the biggest storyline here was Benilde missing three starters: Rold, Brandt and Little. Obviously , BSM has the depth to have their next man up be able to contribute, but, BSM looked a bit more mortal without those guys in the line up on offense. They did take a lot of shots that missed the cage and Stillwater goalie got a piece of. On a better shooting day, BSM probably wins this game 12-3. Not exactly sure when the timeline for return is on those guys, but, I think until then BSM will be grinding out games and leaning on their defense a bit more as those guys find their way back into the line up.

BSM takes on Orono (Tue) and The Valley (Thu) this week, both at home

Stillwater travels to Roseville (Wed) and hosts Irondale (Fri)