Long, Seifert Propel Tigers Back to Finals

by Pat Rupp

Sadie Long produced a hat trick and an assist and Jayden Seifert scored one goal and assisted on four more as Farmington (17-10) returned to the Section 1AA finals with a solid 8-3 victory over Dodge County (14-12-1) Saturday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The win coupled with Northfield’s 2-1 upset of Lakeville South in the other semifinal match-up sets up next Thursday’s finals pairing in Owatonna with the winner advancing to the 2020 state tournament in St. Paul.

“We controlled the game from the first puck drop,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We had a solid game plan going in and the girls did a great job of executing it.”

Long got things going for the home team with a goal less than a minute after the first puck hit the ice and then added a power play score on an assist from Seifert later in the period to account for all of the first period scoring.

After the Wildcats netted the first goal early in the second period, the Tigers rattled off four straight scores to build a 6-1 lead. Seifert, Carly Lancaster, Abby Gehrke and Sam Moehle all found their way into the scoring column. Seifert assisted on two of the scores with Madison Kadrlik, Izzy Zwart, Long and Moehle each adding one.

The Tiger lead bulged to 8-1 midway through the final period on goals by Grace Auge (from Zwart and Seifert) and Long (from Seifert and Long) before Dodge County scored a pair of too-little, too-late goals in the final two-and-a-half minutes of regulation.

Farmington finished with a 38-20 cushion in the shots-on-goal department, including a 30-13 bulge over the first two periods.  Tiger goalkeeper Ryleigh Furlong finished with 17 saves for the winners.

Two of Long’s three scores came on the power play where the Tigers were a perfect 3-3 for the second straight game.

“Sadie has shown great determination and grit all season,” Holmes said. ”It has really been great seeing the puck find the twine as of late…The line with Sadie, Carly Lancaster and Sam Moehle has been really solid the past few games. They have started to own their role and are getting a lot of offensive chances.”

Seifert has piled up stats like firewood in the post season, totaling a pair of goals and eight assists in two games.

“Jayden has been a rock at the point for us all season,” Holmes said. “She has done a phenomenal job of controlling the puck and making smart and timely decisions.”

Northfield (17-9) should be a familiar opponent for the Tigers, the two having been long-time rivals back when both schools were members of the Missota Conference. This season the teams met in the Louie Schmitz Holiday Classic with the Tigers prevailing 4-2.

Faceoff for the finals is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at the Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna.

“Northfield just beat a solid Lakeville South team, so we certainly have plenty of prep work to do to get ready for them,” Holmes said.