Trailing reigning champion Wayzata in the first half of Friday’s Class 3A state title game, Stillwater’s 17 seniors wouldn’t let their last high school soccer game end in a loss.

“This was our last to chance to win something that matters, together,” senior goalkeeper Reese Elzen said.

The No. 2-seeded Ponies rallied to beat No. 1 Wayzata 3-2 and win their program’s fourth state title.

As freshmen, most of those seniors — the largest group of seniors head coach Mike Huber has every seen — lost in the state semifinals, the program’s last appearance at state.

Since, their coaches repeatedly showed them film from when the Ponies rallied from down two goals to beat Edina in the state playoffs en route to winning 2021’s state title.

“This is what it takes,” Huber would tell them.

On Friday, the Ponies had what it took.

After being down 2-0 in the game’s first half hour, a pair of goals from Stillwater senior forward Alayna Muths tied the match with 30 minutes to play. Then, with 14 minutes remaining, senior forward Rylee Lawrence showed off why she was a Ms. Soccer finalist and All-Minnesota honoree.

At the edge of the 18-yard box, the North Dakota commit lifted a shot into the far left corner of the net to score the game winner for the Ponies (19-1-1).

“It’s unreal,” Lawrence said. “Our team was working so hard to be able to put it in. … We [seniors] all were really, really motivated, which made the five underclassmen extra motivated with us.”

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Wayzata (17-1-2) hadn’t led early in either of its prior tournament games, but less than 10 minutes into Friday’s match, All-Minnesota forward Lauren Craig served a pass into the box for unmarked Ava Molde, whose shot slipped past Elzen, a Wisconsin commit.

Molde and Craig would combine again for Wayzata, which wrangled away Stillwater’s early momentum. This time, it was Molde dashing up the left touchline, finding Craig centrally, who calmly slotted in a shot for her team-high 26th goal of the season.

“We weren’t going to change the way we play,” Huber said. “We just told them we needed to get in behind their back line a little bit more and put shots on their net.”

Stillwater clawed one back before halftime, three minutes after Wayzata’s second goal. Muths received a throw-in with her back to goal, and the University of Illinois-Chicago commit’s nice first touch set herself up to turn and curl in a volley.

With a half hour left in the game, Muths tapped in a bouncing ball that popped through the Wayzata box off another throw-in.

“Between Rylee and Jenna [Kurth] and Alayna and our midfielders, the goals kind of come everywhere. … Teams can’t key in on one player,” Huber said.

The Stillwater defense, an impressive three-player back line that recorded 11 shutouts this season, had to wait out the final minutes. Injuries forced the Ponies to switch to a three-back early in the season, in what Huber thought would be a one-game trial. The formation stuck.

“It was definitely a little bit uncomfortable for us at first … because everybody is marking one,” said senior and All-Minnesota defender Savannah Backberg. “We all worked hard for each other, like no one left each other alone.”

Elzen, diving outstretched to her left, tipped another Craig shot wide with 12 minutes left to keep Stillwater ahead. The keeper notched her fifth assist of the fall on Lawrence’s game winner after she launched a massive drop kick three quarters of the field’s length.

Wayzata was playing in its third consecutive title game with a crew of 11 sophomores, many of whom played major minutes for the Trojans. Wayzata entered the state tournament undefeated and ranked ninth in the national United Soccer Coaches Association poll.

Stillwater is the first team besides Edina to beat Wayzata in its last 80 games, Trojans head coach Tony Peszneker said.

“I’ve watched a lot of finals over the years, and honestly, I thought this was probably one of the best finals that I’ve seen in a while,” Huber said. “I’ve got another video I can use for the next five years.”

Mahtomedi beats Blake for 2A title

Normally, goalkeepers are the first to receive their state championship medals, typically wearing No. 0 or 1 on a title-winning soccer team buzzing with excitement, lined up in numerical order.

But after No. 1-seeded Mahtomedi edged No. 2 Blake 1-0 in Friday’s Class 2A state title game, Zephyrs senior keeper Harlow Berger was the last to get her gold, wearing No. 43 in honor of her late father, who wore it playing basketball.

And as Berger had her named called, the Zephyrs fans gave their 6-foot-3 netminder the afternoon’s loudest cheer of all, and well-deserved after she made a dozen saves. In a game that Blake (16-1-4) dominated in possession and chances at goal, the All-Minnesota St. Thomas commit was a “game changer,” head coach David Wald said.

“We don’t do this this year with that many young kids on the field without them knowing that they have Harlow behind them, backing them up,” said Wald, whose team has 11 shutouts in its past 13 games.

Berger had to dive low, parry over high chances and step up to stifle close-range shots as Blake came out on the front foot, led in attacking by junior Gophers commit Livi Abboud-Young, who scored 34 goals this season.

Even Wald lost track of the number of saves Berger made to help the Zephyrs (17-2-2) defend last year’s state title, except for the important distinction: “A lot. Enough.”

With 15 minutes left in the match, the Zephyrs forced a midfield turnover that found senior midfielder Kennadee Cummins, who slipped a pass to junior forward Elise Aflakpi, with her back to goal at the edge of Blake’s 18-yard box.

Turning around her mark, Aflakpi’s right-footed shot, poked with her toe between two Blake defenders, bounced off the left goalpost, then the right, and back out. Blake keeper Reese Aafedt pounced on the rebound, but the shot was eventually ruled a goal.

“I was ready to keep going, and then when I heard that whistle, it was such a feeling of relief,” Aflakpi said.

The game-winner from Aflakpi — who also scored the winner in Mahtomedi’s 2-1 semifinal win over Mankato East — came in a match in which the Zephyrs’ chances were hard-earned while the young, talented Blake team sent an onslaught of corner kicks and shots.

The Zephyrs fielded a team younger than the squads that have typically helped the program to a state record of 12 titles. They had graduated all of their starting defenders, calling on such players as senior Neven Leopold and freshman Olivia Boberg, among others, to step up.

They also had to work around several injuries. Last year’s leading scorer, Allie Rippentropp, played for the first time this fall in the Zephyrs’ semifinal win over Mankato East after missing time because of a broken foot.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if we’d be here, I would have said, ‘No way,’ ” Wald said, “… which is completely different than last year.”

Berger split time last year with senior goalkeeper Jacque Worden, a North Dakota State commit, but Worden was out with an injury picked up in the spring, during the Zephyrs’ state championship flag football season. Instead, Worden spent time working with Berger during practice, coaching her through drills, her “sister” in net, said Wald.

Berger finished the game holding her right shoulder, which had popped out and back in on a dive with about seven minutes left in the match. She put on an arm sling before the medal ceremony.

She kicks for the Mahtomedi football team, too, and there’s a playoff game Friday night against Cretin-Derham Hall. She wasn’t sure she could still play, ice strapped to her shoulder. But, guaranteed, she’s a state champion.

“That’s probably my busiest game all year,” Berger said. “I was coming into this knowing that that was going to be the case, and so I just put myself on the line for my team.”