And the momentum came early for the Ponies, who scored three times in the first 16 minutes of the contest. In a bit of deja vu, junior Marisa Bonilla crossed the ball into the box from the same spot — just left of the White Bear Lake goal — to the same player, junior Sophia Steblay, who pounded the ball into the back of the net.

"As I went down the line, Sophia and Lexi [Huber] made great runs," Bonilla said. "All I had to do was find them."

And Bonilla found Steblay for a goal just 32 seconds into the contest, then repeated that result at 11:16 and 15:55.

"It was the same ball every time," Steblay said. "I knew she would slot it perfectly behind their defense, and all I had to do is tap it in for the goal."

It was a back-breaking sequence the Bears could not overcome, and the result was an end to the team's eight-game win streak.

"We lost our marks on the back post," White Bear Lake co-coach John Dierkhising said. "And we were staring at the ball too much, not worrying about the player [we're supposed to mark]. It's tough to come back from that; hopefully we learn from it, and we're a better team if we face them in the section tournament."

The Ponies, ranked No. 4 in the Class 2A coaches' poll, also got two goals by Huber — one with 4:40 left in the first half, and the other with 10:53 remaining in the second — to improve to 13-3-0 overall and finish 7-2 in Suburban East Conference play.

Thursday's win was a good rebound from a disappointing 3-0 loss Stillwater recorded against Cretin-Derham Hall on Tuesday, a setback that cost the Ponies a shot at the league title.

"We addressed that it knocked us out of the race for the conference [championship]," Huber said of Tuesday's contest. "So we focused on getting a result against White Bear Lake, because we felt these were the top two teams [in our section], so we would have an argument for being the No. 1 seed."

The argument was bolstered by a fine defensive effort by the Ponies, who claimed their 12th clean sheet of the season thanks in part to seven saves by Sydney Gritters. The sophomore goalkeeper shut out White Bear Lake, which had outscored its opponents 41-4 in those eight victories.

"Kayla Anderson is one of the top goal-scorers in the state," Huber said of the Bears' top scorer. "I thought we played well against her, and when she had an opportunity, our goalkeeper came up with some big saves. They're a high-scoring team, but defensively we were solid when we had to be."

Bonilla also credited defenders Haley Nelson and C.J. Fredkove for their strong play in marking Anderson, a South Dakota State commit who has 23 goals in 14 games.

"Haley and C.J. were winning balls in the air," Bonilla said. "They kept Kayla under control — they were great."

The loss was a disappointing end to the regular season for White Bear Lake, which received votes in the Class 2A poll but did not crack the top 10. The Bears enter Class 2A, Section 4 play at 11-3-1 overall but still earned a share of the Suburban East title with an 8-1 mark and 24 points.

"Ending it on a low note like this is disappointing, sure," Dierkhising said. "But the bigger picture is sections. Conference was important, but if we want to get to state, we're going to have to go through Stillwater.

"I'm not glad it happened, but I'm glad it happened tonight. It may affect our section seed, but it doesn't affect our season," Dierkhising added.

While White Bear Lake finished higher in the conference, Huber hopes Stillwater will be the top seed when Class 2A, Section 4 tournament pairings are announced this weekend.

"It's a different story if we had beaten them early in the season," Huber said. "But by beating them by this margin, and by beating them late in the season, I think that puts us in a good spot for the top seed."