BOYS Top 20 Preview: #4 Stillwater
Stillwater is the beast of the east and have been a dominant program for the last decade. Some of Minnesota’s best players have come from Stillwater but for some reason it just hasn’t translated to state tournament success. That being said, they get nearly their entire state semi-finalist team back this upcoming spring and are loaded with elite talent on both sides of the ball. This Ponies team is as good as ever and should be one of the favorites heading into the 2025 season.
“Tale of the Tape”
*according to LaxNumbers
**according to MN Lax Hub
2024 Record: 15-4
Strength of Schedule: 76.02 (8th in MSHSL)*
Team Offense: Averaged 12.68 Goals For per game (5th in MSHSL)**
Graduated Senior Production: 18%
Team Defense: Averaged 6.89 Goals Against per game (14th in MSHSL)**
Graduated Defensive Personnel: Wyatt Carroll (Starting D)
Offense Returning
Grant Giese (54/13)
Anderson Wagner (48/13)
Luke Geisbauer (18/24)
Isaac Johnston (15/12)
Bobby Appert (18/8)
Easton Abrams (9/7)
Aiden Sargent (7/6)
Kieran Jones (5/7)
Defense Returning
Casey Mork (Goalie) - .620 Sv%
Jack Mellgren (Pole)
Mason Jansen (Pole)
Brennan Grimm (Pole)
Isaac Sainsbury (SSDM)
Sam Schilling (SSDM)
2025 Schedule
The Suburban East is a tough conference that usually hosts some of the east side’s top teams. Stillwater is looking to defend their conference title but one thing is for certain, this conference is a tough one. Stillwater will have ranked opponents in CDH (#20), White Bear Lake (#13), East Ridge (#7) and Woodbury (#12). Last season, Stillwater played one goal games against East Ridge, Woodbury and Moundsview (who is just outside the top 20). They had a 2 goal game vs WBL in the section final.
Out of conference schedule is not 100% complete on the site, but they do have Prior Lake in mid April. But piecing together some other schedules, they will have BSM but curious if they will keep the Minnetonka and Chanhassen matchups (which they have had the past few years).
Final Thoughts
Stillwater is primed for another big season and gets the majority of their team back. They were in the top 5 nearly the entire 2024 season and even found their way to #1 at one point in the DTA Media Poll. They are anchored by rock star goalie, Casey Mork, who has been one of the best keepers in the state over the past two seasons even as an underclassman. The will need to replace a leader on defense with the graduation of Wyatt Carroll and find a new player(s) to take on the role at the face off X as they graduated Nick Hornbuckle who took 335 of their draws last year at a 62.7% clip. They also graduated a very strong productive attackman in Brock Lynskey who had 44 goals last season.
This all being said, Stillwater gets nearly everyone else back from their 2024 final four team and should be able to fill a couple of these open roles with their massive youth program that has been purely dominant for the last 15 years. The biggest thing that stands out to me about Stillwater is their depth, they had 9-10 guys on offense last season who produced points and only lose one of them. Their depth middies and attack could be #1s ate many other programs and it looks like they have two defensive midfielders coming back as well.
Stillwater has been on the cusp of greatness for so long. I thought maybe last year was going to be the year for them, but, they stumbled in the state tourney when they ran into a hot Lakeville North team. I think that will be a big motivator for them in 2025 as their talented senior class will be as hungry as ever to avenge last year’s semi-final loss. They play an up-tempo style with highly skilled players on offense and their goalie makes the opposition really pick their shots wisely. Combine that with their depth and it makes them extremely tough to play against. The ponies have all the pieces to make a run and should be among the top of the polls again this season.