Ending on a High Note

By Pat Rupp

Farmington closed the books on its 2022-23 regular season in style with a wire-to-wire 5-1 South Suburban Conference win over Rosemount Saturday afternoon at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The win was the fourth straight for the surging Tigers who enter next week’s Section 1AA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the eight-team field.

“This was another solid win for us,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We are really putting the puzzle together. We have stayed disciplined and have been relentless in our effort.

“It’s been sort of  an ‘against all odds’ season for us. We’ve gone through a lot with all of the close losses in games where we have dominated play but we’ve stuck with the process and found the path to success.”

In Saturday’s season finale, neither team managed a score until Jenna Goblirsch (from Morgan Mitchell and Lexi Giller) found the twine with fewer than four minutes remaining in the first period.

Then came what Holmes said may have been the turning point of the game. With just seconds remaining in period one Kenna Kadrlik made it 2-0 with her team-leading 19th goal of the season.

“That was the back-breaking kind of goal that had gone against us much of the season,” Holmes said. “That was a huge turn in our favor.”

Kennedy Meier put the home team up by three scores midway through the second period on assists from Madison Kadrlik and Josie Empey. The goal was Meier’s second in as many games and her seventh of the season.

Rosemount scored right out of the gate in the third period but Goblirsch (from Amelia Goblirsch and Addison Trapp) netted her second of the game four minutes later to all but seal the deal.

Later, senior Meghan Stoa brought the home crowd to its feet, scoring her first career goal on an empty-netter in the closing minutes.

“What a way to end the season and her career at Schmitz-Maki,” Holmes said. “That was a highlight for sure.”

As has been the case most of the season, Farmington outshot the opposition, this time by a 47-26 count.

Tiger goalkeeper Addison Moudry turned away 25 shots to register her sixth win of the season.

Farmington will take a 9-16 record , but more importantly its four-game win streak, into Wednesday’s section opener at fourth-seeded Northfield.

“We need to continue to play with that little chip on our shoulder,” Holmes said. “We still have some things to prove.”

Other opening Section 1AA games include:

No. 1 Lakeville South vs. Bye

No. 7 Rochester Mayo at No. 2 Lakeville North

No. 6 Rochester Century at No. 3 Owatonna