Player suspensions that led to a lopsided, season-ending playoff loss for the Stillwater girls hockey team on Saturday appear to be tied to a vandalism complaint filed with the Stillwater Police Department.

At least five Stillwater players were suspended before the Ponies’ 7-2 loss to Roseville in the section quarterfinal game, about a week after a Stillwater resident reported her car had been vandalized in her driveway.

On the morning of Feb. 5, police responded to a complaint of a car covered in Post-It notes, rubber bands, underwear, birdseed and food ranging from hot dogs to maple syrup, according to the report. Two dead goldfish were near the house’s front door.

The incident was classified as malicious mischief by police, who recovered at least four UPC numbers among items left at the scene. According to the police report, the Walmart at 5815 Norell Ave. N. in Oak Park Heights was checking in-store purchases and video surveillance possibly related to the incident.

According to the report, Walmart manager Nick Wallrich said he believes several girls bought and/or stole items from his store the night of Feb. 4, telling police he was aware one of the items was a container of birdseed.

An Oak Park Heights police spokesman said Monday that his department never received a report of theft and is not pursuing anything related to the Stillwater incident.

Wallrich declined to comment when reached by the Pioneer Press on Monday, directing questions to Stillwater police. Spokesman Sgt. Jeff Stender said the Stillwater department is no longer pursuing the case.

The complainant said the vandalized car, a 2004 Ford Escape, was primarily driven by her 17-year-old daughter. On Feb. 8, she called police to inform them that she had the names of eight juvenile girls “to pass along … as they had confessed and apologized for doing the vandalism.” The girls, she told police, appeared to be members of the Stillwater hockey team.

The names were omitted from the public report released by police.

According to the report, the damage to the car was not permanent, and the complainant, after reporting the incident to Stillwater Senior High School, “requested that no further Stillwater Police investigation be conducted.”

When reached by phone, Stillwater coach Lee Gillespie deferred to Stillwater athletics director Ricky Michel. Michel and a district spokeswoman declined comment and wouldn’t confirm the player suspensions, citing data-privacy laws.

The incident and suspensions come on the heels of a tumultuous offseason for the program, as longtime coach Tony Scheid resigned last spring following what he called “unrelenting” and “vicious” verbal attacks on his family from several parents.

Mary Divine and Jace Frederick contributed to this report.