There had been lot of build up to Saturday night's special at Aldrich Arena, a showdown that pitted two elite programs of the east metro.

Blue-blooded Hill-Murray, with its 27 state tournament appearances, hosted up-and-coming Stillwater, two years removed from it’s first trip to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. It’s a top-10 matchup in Class 2A with the stakes likely to be a top seed in Section 4.

And from the beginning, on perhaps the biggest stage of the season so far, the Ponies simply came out on fire, scoring three times in the opening period as brothers Jackson and Noah Cates connected for them all.

Their efforts, along with some solid play between the pipes from senior Josh Benson, helped Stillwater earn a 5-2 statement victory over their biggest rival in a game that was never really that close.

“I think we did a good job of winning the races to puck and forcing turnovers with second efforts,” Ponies coach Matt Doman said. “That effort bled throughout the game, line after line and shift after shift.”

Stillwater, ranked No. 5 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, set the tone early with the three goals, and outshot its host 16-6 in the opening period. It was a tough hill to climb for No. 9-ranked Hill-Murray, which failed to turn things around for good in a disappointing loss that could drop the Pioneers to a second seed in the Section 4 playoffs, behind the Ponies.

“We were standing around, watching the game for a while, and I’m not sure why,” Hill-Murray coach Bill Lechner said. “(But) we told them after the game that nobody died, everybody got through it, so now let’s check it off for experience and not worry about it.”

A little more than two minutes in, junior wing Noah Cates opened the scoring, with a single assist to Jackson Cates on a quick pass from behind the net.

And after Hill-Murray answered 45 seconds later on a fine individual effort by Luke Ranallo that tied the game at 1-1, the Ponies went to work

Noah scored again at 13:45, then set up Jackson a little more than a minute later to build a solid lead Stillwater would add to.

“It’s like they shutdown inside,” Jackson said. “We were all over them right away, and it was huge for us.”

The top line consisting of the Cates brothers and senior wing Gavin Holland worked tactfully behind the net, controlling the puck and steadily squeezing in on the top of the slot as the Pioneers struggled to realize where the shots were coming from before the reaction came too late to do anything about it.

“We like to set up and look for opportunities to get to the net, or cycle it,” Jackson added. “A lot of times, it’s just the space they give us is what we will take.”

Disciplined position hockey, as well as puck possession, proved to be important for the Ponies, who spent a great deal of time on the attack.

“As hard as it is to get the puck, our guys don’t want to give it up,” Doman said. “We want to make smart plays. Our guys work hard to get the puck, and they’re not going to just throw it away for nothing.”

The Ponies worked hard below the hash marks to generate offense, and plenty of it came from behind the net, where they showed an equal tenacity to crash the net as well as thread passes into the slot for prime scoring chances.

Early in the third, Hill-Murray got a score from Will Sonntag to draw to within 4-2. Stillwater pushed its lead back to three when the Ponies' other brother combination connected, with T.J. Saggisor assisting on older brother Simon's score at 11:47.

For Stillwater, the victory provides a big confidence boost. For Hill-Murray, the loss is one to flush quickly and move on from.

“If we are going to lose one, I’d rather lose it in January,” Lechner said.

Stillwater's inspired early play proved to be a catalyst for the Ponies, who jumped out with three first-period goals, then proceeded to outwork Hill-Murray at both ends of the ice to prevail with a 5-2 victory Saturday night before a packed house at Aldrich Arena.

Stillwater, ranked No. 5 in the Class 2A coaches' poll, were led by the Cates brothers as Noah finished with two goals and one assist while Jackson had one goal and two assists. Luke Manning and Simon Saggisor each scored a goal for the Ponies. 

Senior goaltender Josh Benson stopped 18 shots to earn the victory and improve his record to 14-1-1.

Luke Ranallo had one goal and one assist for the No. 9-2A Pioneers.

With the win over their top rival, the Ponies (17-1-1) put themselves in the driver's seat for a top seed in next month's Class 2A, Section 4 tournament. 

Stillwater resumes action Thursday at home against No. 5-1A Mahtomedi.

Hill-Murray (13-5-1) looks to bounce back Tuesday night at No. 11-2A Bemidji.

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