SHADES OF 2019-2020

By Pat Rupp

Last winter Farmington stumbled out of the gate, losing its first three games while managing to score just five goals. Gradually the Tigers righted the ship, won a section championship and landed a berth in the Class AA state tournament.

Saturday’s long-delayed 2021 season opener looked eerily familiar to last year’s slow start as the Tigers were kept off the scoreboard in a 3-0 road loss to Prior Lake at Dakotah! Arena.

The Lakers finished at the bottom of the South Suburban Conference standings last year, winning but one of 18 league games.

“I didn’t see this coming,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We actually played pretty well overall, but we lacked the ability to get the puck into good scoring areas.”

The Tigers had no problem getting off shots, however, finishing with an official edge in shots on goal of 34-26, numbers that Holmes said were misleading.

“I don’t think that is accurate and we must have had another 40 shots that missed the net,” he said. “Too many of them were from outside scoring areas and we weren’t following through to get rebounds and second chances that were there.”

The Lakers broke the scoring ice in the final second of the first period and then added another goal in the second when the defense gave up the puck in its own zone, an error that that led to a breakaway. The third and final score came in the closing minutes on an empty-netter.

Laker goalkeeper Alex Pellicci, daughter of ex-Tiger Mike Pellicci, earned the shutout with a 34-save performance for the Lakers.

“She (Pellicci) is a very solid tender,” Holmes said, “but that still doesn’t account for us not taking advantages of all the chances we had.”

Holmes said the biggest positive to take from the season opener was his team’s ability to control the tempo of the game and pass the puck.

“We looked pretty but not gritty,” he said. “We have to get ourselves into the dirty areas and the goals will come.”

The Tigers play their home opener Tuesday night when they entertain South Suburban Conference rival Lakeville North at Schmitz-Maki Arena. The Panthers won their season opener 6-5 in a shootout with Apple Valley.