Tigers Overcome Lapses, Edge Valley 5-4

by Pat Rupp

Sometimes the scoreboard is not representative of how an athletic contest was played. Case in point: Farmington’s apparent squeaker of a 5-4, come-from-behind road win over defending South Suburban Conference champion Apple Valley Tuesday night.

The Tigers outshot the Eagles by a resounding 47-16 in the game but trailed by a puzzling 4-0 four minutes into the second period.

“We were in absolute control from the drop of the puck,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “But we had three brain lapses in the first period that led to goals. We bounced back to only give them one shot the last 10 minutes of the period and then we started to play good hockey.”

The Tigers outshot Valley 16-5 in the opening frame  but none of their shots drew net while the Eagles connected on an incredible 60 percent of their chances.

Still trailing 4-0 early in the second, Farmington closed the period with a three-goal outburst, one by leading scorer Sadie Long (from Carly Lancaster). The other two scores came from senior Laura McGregor, both assisted by Kenna Kadrlik. McGregor’s goals were her first of the season.

“Laura always goes hard and tonight she got her goals by continuing to go hard to the net,” Holmes said.

Long’s goal, her second of the night on an assist from Brenna Fuhrman, tied the count at 4-4 just 42 seconds into the final period. Fuhrman provided the deciding goal on assists from Sam Moehle and Lancaster with just under seven minutes to play in regulation.

“All in all, I think we proved we have the ability to control play,” Holmes said. “We were buzzing for all three periods...But when we take a break, we can’t let vital mistakes that lead to goals take place.

“In the end though we overcame some adversity, stuck with the process and pulled out what was a ‘must’ win for us.”

The win was the seventh in the last eight outings for the Tigers who stand at 9-6-1 in the South Suburban Conference, good enough for fourth place in the 10-team standings.

Farmington plays Shakopee in its regular season home finale Thursday night before closing out the campaign Saturday afternoon at Eastview. Section 1AA play begins next week.