In the Win Column

By Pat Rupp

Farmington coach Jon Holmes described his team’s dominant 4-1 South Suburban Conference win over Eastview Tuesday night at the Apple Valley Sports Arena like starting a new season.

“You could tell the vibe on Monday at practice was completely different from the vibe the past few weeks,” he said. “I had a few conversations prior to the game and I was confident in saying we were going to play well.”

The win was a timely one for the Tigers who had started the season a disappointing 0-3 with a struggling offense that produced just five goals. Eastview on the other had come in with a 5-2 mark including impressive wins over Lakeville North and South St. Paul.

The game was scoreless for the first 10 minutes before Sam Moehle (from Claire Enright) and Jayden Seiffert (from Grace Auge) found the back of the net in a 94-second span for an early two-goal bulge. The Lightning struck late in the period to make it 2-1 heading to the first break.

Farmington outshot Eastview 10-3 in the opening period and 11-6 in the second but the scoreboard remained frozen at 2-1 going into the final frame.

“We controlled the entire game and the pace of play,” Holmes said. “The Eastview goal came off of a bad-angle, weak wrister, and we can chalk it up to one of those goals that shouldn’t have gone in.”

The Tigers continued to force the issue over the final 17 minutes, getting a dozen more shots on goal with two of them finding their target.

Enright gave her team some breathing room with an unassisted score just 39 seconds into the final frame and transfer Sadie Long (from Auge and Seiffert) put a little icing on the victory cake with her first goal as a Tiger at 13:49.

Farmington outshot the Lightning by a one-sided 33-19 for the night with goalie Ryleigh Furlong picking up her first win of the season with an 18-save performance.

“Our lines looked comfortable, and while we still have work and some jiving to do there, it was good to see the forwards work a bit more cohesively.

“Defensively we played a more complete game and were not watching and waiting as much for others to do the work for us…We still have a long way to go to tighten the defensive ship, but the process is in place and the progress is happening.”

Holmes continued to laud the play of his third line of Ava Johnson, Kenna Kadrlik and Abby Gehrke.

“They looked great,” he said. “Often, they are the most disciplined in their play. They execute systems well and find themselves getting offensive chances as a result.”

Farmington will try to extend its winning streak to two games Tuesday night when it travels to Dakotah Arena for match-up with South Suburban Conference rival Prior Lake. Saturday the Tigers host Lakeville North in a matinee game at Schmitz-Maki Arena.