Tigers Bury Mayo, Advance to Semifinals

By Pat Rupp

Rochester Mayo came into Wednesday night’s Section 1AA quarterfinal match-up with the Tigers having won six of its last seven games. The Spartans left Schmitz-Maki Arena with a one-sided 11-0 shellacking that ended their 2015-16 season.

Nine different Farmington players scored goals and an eye-popping 13 dented the scoring column as coach Jon Holmes’ young team upped its season record to 15-8-3.

With the win the third-seeded Tigers advanced to Saturday’s section semifinals against No. 2 seed Dodge County, an 8-0 first round winner over Rochester Century.

“We started off a little slow and although the score was 3-0 after the first period we were not always taking care of the puck or getting the immediate hustle we are looking for in a playoff game,” Holmes said.

“But the girls recognized that more and more as the game went on and took a lot of pride in winning races and taking away opportunities by midway through the second and throughout the third period.”

Bailey Kelley, Savannah Tucker and Maddi Oines each found the net in the opening period that saw the Tigers outshoot their over-matched guests by a 17-11 margin.

Tucker notched her second of the night in the second period and Kenna Cavanaugh, Marissa Agerter and Jenna Gerold followed suit as the Farmington lead bulged to 7-0.

Gerold connected again in period three as did teammates Kayla Schultz, Emily Rubins and Lexie Budensiek to close out the goal-fest.

“Every goal was pretty and we did a great job of getting the puck to the net,” Holmes said. ”By the time the third period rolled around we also were able to spread the scoring around and see the hard work from players that do not always get a regular varsity shift.”

Farmington netminder Emily Auge racked up her sixth shutout of the season with a 21-save performance as the Tigers outshot the Spartans 41-21.

Gerold added two assists to her pair of goals for a four-point night. Leading scorer Ellie Moser didn’t score a goal but recorded four assists. Rubins and Kelley each added assists to their goals to finish with two points apiece.

Dani Wright, Carly Simon and Taylor Anderson rounded out the Farmington scoring with an assist apiece.

The Tigers expect a much stiffer opponent on Saturday night at Four Seasons Arena in Kasson. Dodge County brings an identical 15-8-3 record into the contest.

The Wildcats defeated the Tigers 6-0 in the section semifinals last season before losing 7-2 to Lakeville South in the finals.