Eagan Edges Tigers 3-2

by Pat Rupp

Any hopes of a South Suburban Conference championship went by the wayside Saturday night when Eagan upset the Tigers 3-2 at Schmitz-Maki Arena. The loss dropped Farmington three full games behind Apple Valley which has now clinched the league crown.

The Tigers, 14-9 overall, are 10-6 in conference play, one point behind second place Lakeville South and a single point ahead of Shakopee, Eastview and Burnsville with two games left to play in the regular season.

“This was a bad loss for us in many ways,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We needed to win to keep an outside chance of finishing first in the SSC and with that loss we gave the championship to Apple Valley without making them have to win out. 

“We had also just come off a big win against Hill-Murray and to follow it up with that type of play was very disappointing.”

As for having to play three games in a six-day stretch, Holmes said it was not a factor. “Often the three games in a week scenario gets brought up, but realistically these kids are in amazing shape and we had plenty of rest in between. It was not an issue.”

After a scoreless opening period, Liv Helleson’s power play goal (from Jayden Seifert and Sam Moehle) gave the home team an early lead in the second frame but Eagan netted two scores in the final four minutes of the period to build a 2-1 advantage at the final break.

Eagan made it 3-1 midway through the final period before the Tigers closed out the scoring when Seifert found the nets from Brenna Fuhrman and Madison Kadrlik with 7:30 remaining in regulation.

The shots on goal numbers reflected the closeness of the contest with the Wildcats finishing with a 30-28 edge. Farmington goaltender Ryleigh Furlong finished with 27 saves in the losing effort.

“The positive to take out of this loss is that it brings a real sense of reality to the game of hockey and the upcoming postseason.” Holmes said. “Often it is best for a team that is still growing to get hit with a loss like this to really force the issue of showing up AND doing the work versus just showing up for games….We will look to bounce back big this week and get rolling for playoffs.”

Tuesday the Tigers travel to Burnsville before closing the regular season on Saturday with another road game at Rosemount. Section 1AA tournament play begins next week.