Tigers fall to Wildcats in regular season finale

By Pat Rupp

Eagan scored the first three goals of the night on the way to a 4-1 South Suburban Conference win over the Tigers Saturday night in Eagan in the regular season finale for both teams.

Farmington finished the season with a record of 12-11-2 overall and 8-9-1 in conference play, good enough for a fifth place finish in the 10-team standings. The Wildcats ranked third with a 13-4-1 mark and finished 16-8-1 overall.

“We came out flat and never really inflated,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We hung on the entire game. 

“It is hard to say if we were affected by the short turnaround.  In theory we should not have been because we have played back-to-back games before this season.”

The Tigers scored their lone goal when Maddi Oines found the net on an assist from Kenzie Hauswirth at the 12:33 mark of the second period to make it a 3-1 game heading to the final break.

“In reality we just may not have had the same zest for play in this game as we did Friday night against Hastings,” Holmes said.

The Wildcats’ Taylor Anderson scored her second goal of the night late in the final period to close out the scoring.

The shots-on-goal numbers told the tale of the season finale with Eagan holding a one-sided 28-13 advantage.

Tiger goalie Emily Auge (24 saves) drew some complimentary words from her coach in the losing effort.

“Emily played well to keep it to that final score,” Holmes said. “We gave them ample opportunities and she did a nice job shutting them down.”

Farmington drew the fifth seed for next week’s opening round of the Section 1AA post-season tournament and will travel to Four Seasons Arena in Kasson Wednesday night to play fourth-seeded Kasson-Mantorville.

“We have a pretty solid section this year in that the top four seeds are all in the top 15 in the state,” Holmes said. “But we are that team that no one really wants to play in playoffs.

“Because we are so young we have had our ups and downs but if we are able to have another upswing in the playoffs we will surely make some waves and hopefully make a run.”