Big Third Period Keys Tiger Win

By Pat Rupp

For two periods of Saturday afternoon’s South Suburban Conference game with Eastview at the Apple Valley Sports Arena, the Tigers were facing a familiar situation.

Farmington outshot the Lightning 20-11 over the first 34 minutes but didn’t register a single goal as the teams headed to the final break in a scoreless tie.

The visitors more than doubled their shot numbers in the final frame (21) and this time the puck found its mark. Four different Tigers scored in the period in the 4-0 shutout victory.

“We have been working hard in practice on getting our eyes up and on the net,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We just need to keep working on puck possession poise and not allowing the situation to rush our ability to make the right play. With more practice and simulation that will pay off.”

Kenna Kadrlik finally broke the seal on the Eastview net on assists from Alexa Bricko and Madison Kadrlik at 5:20 of the final period.

Sixty-eight seconds later Madison Kadrlik (from Addison Trapp) gave the Tigers a two-goal edge before Morgan Mitchell (from Bricko) all but put the game out of reach with a score at 12:30.

Lexi Geller put an exclamation point on the final sentence with an empty-netter.

“We shook the lines up in the game,” Holmes said. “I think it took some time for the new combinations to bond, but the third period was promising and with a week of practice ahead of us, we should be able  to build on that.”

Addison Moudry returned to the Tiger nets and posted her second win of the season with a 19-save effort.

“Addie played really solid again,” Holmes said. “She made some huge saves that kept us going in the right direction…Like any young team, we still have some defensive zone and odd-man rush issues to tighten up. Because of that, it is paramount that we have a goalie to bail us out on occasion.”

The Tigers have three days of practice to prepare for their next game, a Thursday night South Suburban Conference encounter with Eagan at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Saturday night they hit the road for another league game against Metro South (Burnsville).