Third Period Rally Lift Tigers Past North 3-2

by Pat Rupp

No one can say Farmington’s 2019-2020 season hasn’t been entertaining. Of their 21 games, the Tigers, 13-8 overall and 10-5 in South Suburban Conference play, have seen nine games decided by one goal and three of those have gone into overtime.

The latest of those nail-biters came Tuesday night at Ames Arena in Lakeville where a trio of third period scores rallied the Tigers to a 3-2 conference win over Lakeville North.

“This was a gritty win for us,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We missed Brenna Fuhrman on the ice again and Sam Moehle got hurt early into the game and out for the remainder of it…North was really fired up for the game and we were playing in that darned Olympic-sized rink for the only time this season which makes a huge difference.

“I am very proud of how we plowed through, rolled with the adversity and stuck the game out until the end.”

North milked a 1-0 lead through two periods on a power play goal from Olivia Mattis in the opening frame before the Tiger offense began to rev up early in the third.

Claire Enright got a three-goal burst started with a score just 42 seconds into the period. Abby Gehrke (from Reegan Werner and Enright) and Ava Johnson (from Enright and Carly Lancaster) followed in kind and all of a sudden the visitors held a two-goal lead.

Enright’s goal and two assists gave her a career total of 100 points with still two-plus years of high school eligibility remaining.

“On the ice, Claire is one steely-eyed, cold-hearted killer,” Holmes said. “She is playing at about 60 percent due to a serious hip injury but still manages to keep the game under her control with her exceptional abilities….The past few weeks we’ve had to play her on defense and she has been a rock there as well.”

North made it a one-goal contest with five minutes remaining on a goal by Emily Reed to set up an exciting finish. The Tigers picked up back-to-back penalties in the closing minutes and found themselves facing a five-on-three situation.

“Ryleigh Furlong made a huge save during that stretch and that kept the momentum on our side,” Holmes said.

For one of the few times this season the Tigers found themselves on the short end of the shot-on-goal numbers. North finished with 24 and Farmington 18. The Tiger penalty kill unit had a busy night and held the Panthers to just one score in six chances.

Farmington has two games remaining this week, a non-conference match-up with Hill-Murray Thursday night and a Saturday South Suburban Conference battle with Eagan. Both will be played at Schmitz-Maki Arena.