Sick and Tired Tigers Keep It Close

by Pat Rupp

Farmington coach Jon Holmes knew it was not a good sign when he had but eight varsity players  available for practice on Friday.

Between injury and illness, not to mention having played four games in the past eight days, final preparations for Saturday afternoon’s showdown with ninth- ranked Maple Grove were at the minimum, well, minimal.

Even with the challenges, however, the Tigers stuck with the Crimson for two-and-a-half periods before falling 2-1 in a non-conference contest played at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

“The nice takeaway from this game was that knowing our health status coming into the game I was not super optimistic about our odds on winning,” Holmes said.  “But seeing the girls still compete and grit out a one-goal game against a very well-coached and talented team was extremely promising and a good indication of how we can compete once we are healthy.”

All but two of the ten players missing practice on Friday were in uniform for Saturday’s game and for the first two-plus periods the Tigers stayed with the Crimson.

“We played a solid two periods in terms of positioning and keeping the play on the outside of the rink,” Holmes said. “But the third period rolled in and we just flat out got out-hustled and it wasn’t that the pace of the game changed from Maple Grove’s perspective.  It was very apparent that we just quite literally had nothing left.”

Maria Martinez gave Maple Grove the early lead with a power play goal midway through the opening period before Alexia Budensiek tied the count six minutes later with her second goal of the season on an assist from Gabriella Hudson.

After the teams skated through a scoreless second period the Crimson’s Mannon McMahon put the win in the Maple Grove column with an even-strength score.

“We had a little three-minute splurge at the very end where all seven of our third period shots came and where you could see the girls just grasping at anything to try and tie the game back up,” Holmes said.

The Crimson outshot the shorthanded Tigers 39-34 with Farmington goaltender Emily Auge turning in another quality performance. Auge finished with 37 saves in just her second loss of the season.

Holmes also lauded the play of Bailey Kelley who switched from the forward position to the blue line to compensate for some of her absent and ailing teammates.

“Bailey played extremely well,” he said. “I was really proud of her.”

The defeat left the 18th-ranked Tigers with an overall record of 12-4 while the Crimson moved to 11-4-2.

Farmington gets a bit of a respite from its busy schedule and won’t return to the ice until Thursday when they travel to Prior Lake for a South Suburban Conference game.

“The mini-break could not come at a better time for us,” Holmes said. “We really need it.”