“We gave up some bad positioning to allow those three goals and then we addressed it and shut that down,” Edina coach Andy Lee said.

The Hornets (8-1, 5-0) defense constantly took away chances for the Ponies throughout the second half. Davis said a key was making the Ponies (8-2, 8-0) use their off hands, which led to some errant shots and passes.

“We want to get on them and really set the tone and make them feel our pressure,” Davis said.

The Hornets did that by setting a physical tone early. That led to the clattering of sticks and shoulder pads throughout the 48-minute battle of top-10 teams.

“We want to be physical and aggressive, in a clean way,” Lee said. “We’re looking for bad shots, bad decisions, bad passes to force those takeaways to get it to our offense so they can do what they do.”

The offensive talent was on display as Will Sherod, Cooper Anderson and Drew Stocco each tallied four points or more. Stocco led the way with two goals and three assists, as the offense was often dictated by how the defense reacted once he got the ball.

“Anytime he touches the ball something can happen,” Lee said of Stocco. “He’s fast, quick on his feet and he can make you pay pretty quick if you take the wrong step.”

Lee credited the entire attack for their unselfish play tonight as the Hornets assisted nine of their 11 goals.

“One of them succeeds because the other one does something,” Lee said. “It’s a very unselfish team, people are always moving for each other and no matter what happens offensively someone is picking up for themselves.”

The Hornets could have scored more tonight if it wasn’t for the play of Stillwater’s Casey Mork. The freshman goalie stopped 14 of the 25 shots he faced tonight, bringing his goals against average this season to .657.

“He made a lot of big-time saves,” Lee said. “We knew he’d be a challenge and it could've been a lot more if he wasn’t in the cage.”

As the section tournament approaches, Lee said he enjoyed seeing his team play a fellow top-10 team. He knows other teams feel the same way about playing the Hornets this time of year.

“It’s fun being in these games and setting that tone of expectations,” he said. “Every team in the state wants to play Edina because you know you’re a good program.”