Offense Continues to Roll in Win at Mankato

by Pat Rupp

Farmington continued to light up the scoreboard Thursday evening in a 7-1 non-conference win at Mankato East.

The Tigers, unbeaten in their past five outings, have outscored the opposition by an eye-catching 28-7 during that stretch.

“We fell behind right away but after that it was tilted pretty heavy in the other direction,” Tiger coach Jon Holmes said. 

“The (Ellie) Moser, (Megan) Bernu, (Marissa) Agerter line really clicked and controlled the pace and the play each time they hit the ice. They were moving the puck well and as they play more and more together they will be able to read each other with a more fluid motion that will be fun to watch.”

The Cougars scored their only goal of the night on their first shift before Moser (from Dani Wright) tied the count in the final minute of the opening period.

The visitors outshot East 18-8 in the second period with Moser (from Agerter and Bernu) and Maddi Oines (from Bailey Kelley and Cassie Knutson) finding the net for a 3-1 advantage.

Moser completed her hat trick and Wright, Kelley and Jenna Gerold each scored in the final frame to close out the night’s scoring. Oines, and Tucker each racked up a pair of assists in the third period scoring flurry.

Moser’s three goals ran her team-leading total to 16 for the season. Oines continued her recent offensive surge with a goal and two assists, giving the senior co-captain nine points in her past two games. Wright picked up a goal and an assist on her return from an injury.

Tiger netminder Emily Auge posted her fourth victory of the season, finishing with 19 saves as Farmington won the shots-on-goal battle by a wide 47-20 margin. With the win, Auge lowered her season goals-against average to 2.17.

“We still have not found the exact combination we may have in January heading into the post-season,” Holmes said, “but with every period and every game we are getting a good sense of which players are more suited for specific positions and also how well they work with different combinations.”

Farmington will take its 6-2-2 record and five-game unbeaten streak to Hasse Arena Saturday afternoon where they will take on South Suburban Conference co-leader Lakeville South. The Tigers are 4-2-2 in conference play; the Cougars are 6-0-1.