TIGERS POUNCE EARLY, SHRED PANTHERS 9-3

By Pat Rupp

What a difference a renewal of an old rivalry and 72 hours can make.

After going scoreless in a 3-0 loss at Prior Lake last Saturday, Farmington rebounded to thrash old Section 1AA rival Lakeville North 9-3 at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The outcome was decided early when the Tigers answered an early Panther goal with six straight scores in a span of 10:47 in the opening period.

“We got a lot more shots from what I call good scoring areas,” coach Jon Holmes said. “But even more that that we had a completely different vibe because we were playing North. We seemed to have more skin in the game…I also think Prior Lake poked the bear a little in our first game and that got our attention.”

Sadie Long fashioned a hat trick by herself in the opening period, scoring once on the power play, once shorthanded and once at even strength.

Kenna Kadrlik, Sam Moehle and Liv Helleson also found the net in the opening frame for the winners. Helleson’s came on a rare penalty shot at the 13:01 mark.

After a scoreless second period Long, Kiersten Wood and Jayden Seifert found the twine to close out the Farmington scoring.

All in all, nine different players found their way into the scorebook. Seifert, Carly Lancaster and Brenna Fuhrman each contributed a pair of assists and Kennedy Meier, Madison Kadrlik, Helleson and Long added one apiece.

“This should be indicative of what our games will look like,” Holmes said. “I would also expect to see a couple others begin to find the net as well.”

Long’s individual numbers, four goals and an assist, of course, stand out.

“Sadie is gamer,” Holmes said, “and she will be one of our go-to players on offense. She creates a lot of opportunities, whether she is scoring herself or getting the puck to her linemates. She’s fun to watch.”

Tuesday’s game was marred by no less than 14 penalties, eight on Farmington and six on North.

“It was a very chippy game,” Holmes said. “We were stronger and faster and when we got tugged or hit, we usually didn’t go down. That played against us as the game progressed.”

Tiger goalkeeper Ryleigh Furlong stopped 14 of 17 shots to earn the first win of her senior season. Farmington won the shots on goal war by a count of 42-17.

Holmes noted that although his team scored nine times and took better shots in its second game, it still had a lot of work to do in its end of the rink.

“We still have to do a better job as far as getting the puck into the dirty and gritty areas where our chances of scoring get better,” he said.

Next up on the schedule is a South Suburban road clash with Eagan Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats are 0-2 with early season losses to Burnsville and Apple Valley.