Five of Six and Four Goals to Boot

by Pat Rupp

Farmington made it five wins in its last six outings with a 4-0 whitewash of Section 1AA rival Owatonna Thursday night at Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna.

The defense continued to excel and goaltender Abby Bollig notched her first career shutout to help the Tigers slip above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 6-5.

“The game started and progressed much like many of our past games,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “The big difference was that some of the opportunities found the back of the net. The girls played hard again and went to the net more together

Carly Lancaster got the visitors off on the right foot, scoring her first career goal on an assist from Ellie Moser at 10:12 to account for the only scoring of the opening period.

Second period scores by Lexie Budensiek (from Kenna Cavanaugh and Kiley Braatz) and Emily Rubins (from Taylor Anderson and Moser) provided a little breathing room heading into the final period. Moser’s assist was her 100th career point.

Eighth-grader Brenna Fuhrman (from Marissa Agerter) added a cherry atop the victory sundae with a goal late in the final period. Furhman’s goal was also her first as a varsity player.

The four goals provided an encouraging sign for the Tigers as it represented their second highest game total of the season.

“To get scoring spread out the way we did was more how I envisioned the year would have started,” Holmes said, “but we got better with each shift last night and hopefully we've found some combos that will stick for a good stretch.”

Farmington finished the night with a one-sided 35-15 advantage in the shots on goal department. Bollig had 15 saves and lowered her season goals against average to 1.43.

“Abby again was stingy and our defensemen did a great job of getting more involved in the offense,” Holmes said.

The Tiger coach also lauded the play of the Jenna Gerold, Bailey Kelley and Agerter line.

“They probably looked the most impressive last night, but they just couldn't shake the bad voodoo,” he said. “It will come for them...it has to.”

The Tigers resume play after Christmas when they host the eight-team Louie Schmitz Holiday Classic at Schmitz-Maki Arena Dec 27-29. They open play Tuesday against old Missota Conference rival Holy Angels.