Tigers Nip North for Second Straight

by Pat Rupp

Farmington downed Lakeville North 5-4 in erratic fashion Saturday afternoon at Schmitz-Maki Arena for its second consecutive South Suburban Conference win.

The Tigers got the better of the play for most of the first two periods and led 3-0 before the Panthers erupted for a dizzying four unanswered goals in a two-minute span to trail by one with a period to play.

After the second break the home team settled down, scoring twice to even its conference record at 2-2 and its overall mark to 3-3.

“We have not played a full three periods of hockey yet this season,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “The big thing to take away though was our commitment to see the process through…We’ve put together gritty third periods to either win or put ourselves into position to win. That’s a huge character builder.”

The Tigers netted the only two goals of the tightly-played opening period. Kenna Kadrlik (from Abby Gehrke and Sam Moehle) opened the scoring with Gehrke (from Kadrlik and Moehle) making it 2-0 late in the first.

Gehrke made it 3-0 Farmington on assists from Kadrlik and Ava Johnson) at 13:17 of the second period to give the Tigers a seemingly comfortable cushion.

But then came North’s tornado of a rally. It came on the back of four Farmington penalties. Two of the Panther scores came via the power play.

“The biggest uncontrollable factor in a hockey game is the officiating,” Holmes said. “Every year we have to get used to what version of contact is and is not acceptable…I didn’t think either team was satisfied with how the game was called. It was difficult for the girls to get comfortable out there.”

Moehle restored some order to things with a goal from Kadrlik and Gehrke early in the third period and with less than two minutes left in regulation Madison Kadrlik stepped into the spotlight, netting the game-winner from Moehle and Johnson.

Junior Kieley Curow patrolled the pipes for Farmington in her first varsity start and stopped 29 of the 33 shots sent her way. The Tigers finished with 32 shots on net.

“Kieley played well for her first game,” Holmes said. “She was tested with some point-blank shots at times and performed solidly.”

Holmes is hoping his team has found a little rhythm after a lackluster 1-3 start to the season.

“This win is especially nice because it came against both a conference and section opponent,” Holmes said.

Farmington will be looking to run its modest win streak to three games Thursday night when it entertains Prior Lake (1-3) at Schmitz-Maki. The recent homestand continues Saturday evening when Eastview (2-4-1) comes to town.