Great Expectations

By Pat Rupp

Last winter the Tiger girls’ hockey team followed up a so-so regular season (13-11-2) with a sizzling finish that included the program’s sixth state tournament berth and a spot in the consolation title game.

Only three members from that squad graduated last spring--Jenna Gerold, Cassie Knutson and Bailey Kelley--so veteran coach Jon Holmes has high hopes for the 2019-2020 campaign.

Holmes welcomes back 10 key contributors from last year’s state tournament team, including senior forwards Grace Auge, Izzy Zwart and Bailey Zimmer; junior forward Carly Lancaster and junior defenders Brenna Fuhrman, Jayden Seifert and Olivia Helleson; junior goaltender Ryleigh Furlong and sophomore forwards Claire Enright and Sam Moehle.

Enright, Moehle, Fuhrman and Seifert all earned all-South Suburban honors last year. Lancaster received all-league honorable mention.

Enright (43 points) and Moehle (30) topped the Farmington scoring charts last season but they got plenty of help from Lancaster (22), Fuhrman (18) and Seifert (16). Netminder Furlong got better as the year wore on, finishing with a 2.21 goal-against average and a save percentage of .901.

Junior forward Sadie Long joins the program after moving from Holy Family where she was the team’s second leading scorer (28 points) last season. Other returners expected to vie for ice time this winter include junior Kiersten Wood, sophomore Ava Johnson and ninth-graders Madison Kadrlik, Kenna Kadrlik, and Abby Gehrke.

The roster still portrays the Tigers as a relatively young group but Holmes said that tag  might be deceiving.

“We are a tad older but much more experienced as far as ice experience goes,” he said. We have a handful of (college) Division I players who gained experience last season as well as during the off-season.

“We have to be mindful this year that we will have a bit of a target on our back. We will not be the young chasers that we have been. That will bring a mentality shift that we will have to be prepared for and embrace.”

As for expectations, Holmes didn’t mince any words.

“We hold ourselves to a high standard, both on and off the ice,” he said. “We expect to battle for the South Suburban championship and, of course, our primary goal will get to the section title game and give ourselves a shot at the state tournament again.”

The Tigers got their first taste of competition these past two weekends when they participated in a talent-laden scrimmage in Plymouth and a team building trip up to the Iron Range.

“Both went well,” Holmes said. “We played three teams for two 20-minute halves last weekend. We had times where we completely dominated both Edina and Benilde and times where we looked like we needed more seasoning. The third scrimmage was against Wayzata who was playing their first of the day and we were pretty gassed so it was not easy to get any profound take a ways there.”

Holmes said there will be a number of teams in the upper tier of the 10-team South Suburban Conference looking for a conference title. A recent Section 1AA realignment sent North, the team Farmington beat for 2019 championship, northward to Section 3AA.

“With North gone, it will bring a different mix into the post season,” he said.

Holmes brings a 187-128-18 career win-loss record into his 13th season behind the Tiger bench. Assistant Jason Kohlbeck will be at his post for a 24th season. Other Tiger assistants include goalie coach Casey Preston (4th year); Steve Sabetti (3rd); Jared Rowan (3rd) and Steve Mechelke (2nd).  Team Manager Amy Pietsch will be making her 25th year of helping the Tigers out this season.

Farmington opens its season on November 16 with a South Suburban Conference road match-up at Lakeville South.