Tigers Bring Home Consolation Title

By Pat Rupp

Farmington capped a memorable 2016-17 season with a 3-0 shutout victory over Eastview in the consolation championship game of the Class AA state tournament Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena.

The state tourney finish was the second highest in school history. The Tigers took runner-up honors in the 2007 Class A finals and lost in the 3rd place matchup in 2008.

The win over Eastview was Farmington’s second in three tries this season as the teams split their first two meetings,

“When you get the opportunity to play a team for a third time it is usually because you are meeting in a higher stakes game,” Tiger coach Jon Holmes said. “We knew going into the game that we had to shut down Natalie Snodgrass and keep shots on the outside.  We did a nice job of doing that.”

Suffocating defense and stingy goaltending continued to play major roles for Farmington in Saturday’s victory. The shutout was the second straight in the state meet for the winners after they allowed four scores, three of them in less than two minutes of play, in an opening round loss to eventual state champion Edina.

Aided by the ever-present defense, the netminding tandem of Abby Bollig and Emily Auge, they did not allow a goal over the final 112 minutes and 53 seconds of the tournament.

After a scoreless first period, defender Brenna Fuhrman (from Megan Bernu) gave the Tigers all the offense they would need when she blasted home a shot from long distance on the power play midway through the second frame.

With just five seconds left in the second period, Marissa Agerter gave her team a huge momentum boost when she found a bar down rifle from the short side.

“The turning point for us was when we killed a couple penalties in a row,” Holmes said. “That capped off a postseason of being perfect on the penalty kill which was pretty amazing.  

“Once we got the first goal I also was able to breathe a little easier. We definitely did not have our best stuff but what made this team so special is that we have been able to find ways to win the past six weeks even when we are not having our best game.”

Eastview pulled its goalie with a minute to play but the defense and Bollig held their ground until Carly Lancaster (from Emily Rubins) provided an exclamation point to the festivities with an empty-netter.

Bollig, who stopped 49 shots in the opening round loss to Edina, turned away all 23 Lightning shots to post the shutout. Farmington finished with 21 shots on goal.

Bollig and junior forward Ellie Moser, who scored the winning Farmington goal in the 1-0 second round squeaker over Forest Lake and the only goal scored on Edina all tournament, each landed a spot on the prestigious Class AA all-tournament team.

Holmes said the whirlwind weekend played out even better than he had anticipated.

“Edina was the only one to score on us and we were the only team to score on Edina,” he said. “Not that we are satisfied with that, but it is another token to take home with the consolation championship.  

“Both goaltenders were amazing and our defensive core played a big role in that. They stepped up even more than normal.  They were going from corner to corner and even out to the point. They really gave us the spark we needed to keep the moments of play when we were not at our best less scary.

“Despite coming in with a bout of kids with bronchitis, fevers and flu symptoms, we stepped up and won games playing as a team and staying mentally tough. The girls not only believed they were going to win races, battles and games, they knew they could count on each other to pick up where someone else left off mid-shift. Our third line played phenomenally and kept teams at bay and had plenty of scoring chances themselves.”