Back in the Win Column

By Pat Rupp

It took eight straight losses, most of them extremely close, and 29 days but the Tigers finally got back in the win column Saturday night with a solid 4-1 South Suburban Conference victory over Eagan at Eagan Civic Arena.

“The big difference between this game and the ones we were losing is simple,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We won on the scoreboard!

“We played well, much as we did during the losing streak. We kept the other team away from the net, angled well and cleared away rebound chances. Throw in a couple of quality saves and learning that if we want to we can keep the other team to a goal or a less and you have a winning recipe.”

Madison Kadrlik got the visitors off to a good start with an unassisted goal midway through the opening period but the Wildcats responded three minutes later to knot the score after the first 17 minutes of play.

Kadrlik (from Amelia Goblirsch and Addison Trapp) put the Tigers back on top with her second score of the night early in the second frame and the lead swelled to 3-1 at 14:51 when sister Kenna Kadrlik found the twine on assists from Abby Gehrke and Alexa Bricko.

Bricko (from Trapp and Kenna Kadrlik) tallied a power play goal midway through the final period to nail down the win.

Farmington won the shots on goal battle by a 27-21 count with Tiger goaltender Kieley Curow picking up the win with a 20-save performance.

The victory boosted the Tigers’ season record to 6-16 and 4-12 in South Suburban Conference games.

“We still have a lot to prove to ourselves,” Holmes said. “But this game was good for us as I think it’s a good thing to go into the final week of the regular season with a chip on our shoulder and feeling like we are a team that can win in the playoffs.”

The Tigers close out their regular season this week with a trio of home games: Tuesday versus Hastings; Thursday against Metro South and Saturday afternoon with Rosemount. Section 1AA play begins the following week.