A Bounce Back Week

By Pat Rupp

After a disappointing stretch in which it lost four of five contests the Farmington used a strong defense and some solid goaltending to post a pair of hard-fought South Suburban Conference wins last week.

Tuesday night at Eastview the Tigers had to work overtime but still managed to come out with a 2-1 win. Back home on Saturday evening the locals led from start to finish in a 3-1 win over Eagan.

Farmington 2 Eastview 1 (OT)

Morgan Mitchell scored both of the Farmington goals as the Tigers got back in the win column.

Mitchell opened the scoring with a first period goal on an assist from Katie Klotz. Eastview answered minutes later and then the teams skated through a scoreless second and third period.

Mitchell netted the game-winner just 21 seconds into the extra session on assists from linemates Jenna and Amelia Goblirsch.

“Morgan has been playing really well,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “She is using her speed and physical game and she’s taking advantage of the attention being paid to the twins (Goblirsch)…It has been great watching her embrace this role and getting rewarded for it on the scoresheet.”

Holmes said the game-winner that came on the first shift of the extra period looked like a play the team has worked on in practice.

“We won the faceoff, got the puck deep and worked a couple of cycles,” Holmes said. “Amelia got the puck to Jenna who fed Morgan in the high slot.

“We eked one out, but we needed to after losing that last game to Prior Lake like we did…We had some problems with penalties again, but it was nice to get out of there with a win.”

Makena Underwood helped the cause with a strong performance in goal, racking up 30 saves as the Lightning outshot its guests 31-27.

Farmington 3 Eagan 1      

The Tigers made it two in a row with another strong outing Saturday afternoon at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Farmington outshot the Wildcats by a one-sided 27-8 over the first two periods but headed to the final break nursing a 1-0 lead thanks to a first period goal by Lexi Giller (from Katie Klotz and Josey Empey).

“We dominated play offensively,” Holmes said, “but just couldn’t find the twine. We had some amazing looks but their goalie came up big.”

Amelia Goblirsch (from Mitchell) upped the lead to 2-0 early in the final frame before Mitchell notched her third in two games on assists form the Goblirsch twins.

Eagan scored its lone goal of the game with under two minutes to go in regulation.

“Defensive-wise we made some good progress,” Holmes said. “We hated to give up that late goal. We have to learn to play all the way to the final horn.

“Overall though it was a solid performance. We need some work on special teams but even though we didn’t score on the power play, I thought that unit looked more cohesive.”]

Netminder Addison Moudry stopped 13 of the 14 shots sent her way to earn the win. The Tigers finished with a robust 41 shots on goal.

Farmington closes out the regular season with a three-game agenda this week: Tuesday at Hastings; Thursday at Metro South (Burnsville) and Saturday at Rosemount.

“These are important games to build momentum as well as working on our skills and system development,” Holmes said. “A lot of our focus will be on the mental aspect of the game as we get ready the section tournament.”