The Stillwater girls' hockey team was hoping to make a bit of a statement Saturday.
The statement? The Ponies wanted to claim a spot atop the Suburban East Conference and earn a position among the top 10 Class 2A teams in the state.
Consider the statement delivered as Stillwater blitzed Forest Lake 7-2 at the St. Croix Recreation Center, using three second-period goals to pull away from the Rangers, ranked No. 7 in the Class 2A state coaches' poll.
"It was super-important to show people we can play with [Forest Lake] — and that we can beat them," said senior captain Lauren Einan, who scored twice for the Ponies. "I think a lot of people didn't believe we can beat them, but it shows people that we can. It helps our confidence."
Stillwater took sole possession of first place in the Suburban East Conference with a 7-2 victory over Forest Lake at the St. Croix Recreation Center Saturday.
The Ponies scored three goals in the second period and hung on to knock off Forest Lake, ranked No. 7 in Class 2A in the state coaches' poll. The victory, the seventh in a row for Stillwater, improved their record to 9-2 overall and 8-1 Suburban East Conference.
The Rangers (9-4, 7-2) scored first, getting a power-play goal by senior Brieja Parent at 5:34 of the opening period. But Stillwater senior Lauren Einan scored twice in the final 9:25 of the period to give her team a 2-1 advantage.
The second period belonged to the Ponies, who got goals from junior Alexis Huber, sophomore Sydney Johnson and junior Morgan Wohlers in the final 5:20 of the period to lead 5-1.
Parent scored for Forest Lake at 6:53 of the third, but the Ponies got an empty-net goal from Huber and a late goal by Wohlers with 31 seconds left to close the scoring.
Stillwater junior goaltender Sophie Cronk finished with 21 saves, while senior Allyn Goehner stopped 26 shots in net for Forest Lake.
The MN Girls' Hockey Hub poll is for entertainment purposes only.