Tigers Come Up Short at Shakopee

by Pat Rupp

Three different Farmington players scored goals and the Tigers outshot Shakopee 32-29, but on the scoreboard coach Jon Holmes’ young team came up short in a 4-3 South Suburban Conference loss Tuesday night at Shakopee Arena.

“We came out a tad flat,” Holmes said. “We were not necessarily completely out of it but we just lacked that half second get up and react time in the first period and a half.”

The visitors found themselves playing catch-up all night as the Sabers fashioned an early 2-0 lead before the Tigers’ Marissa Agerter (from Emily Rubins and Jessica Jensen) cut the deficit to one late in the opening frame.

Bailey Kelley’s shorthanded score (from Ellie Moser) at the 14:02 mark of the second period knotted the score but Shakopee’s Nicole Vogel answered in kind 24 seconds later to give the lead back to the Sabers.

Senior co-captain Maddi Oines’ unassisted score with fewer than two minutes to play in the period gave the Tigers a hard-earned tie heading to the final break.

The Tigers bombarded the Shakopee goal with 17 third period shots (to four for Shakopee) but the only score of the final period came from the Sabers’ Sarah Kubes with 4:06 remaining in regulation.

“We really took it to them and you could tell our girls had made a mental and physical choice to take control of the game,” Holmes said. “Unfortunately, we had four or five pucks skirt the goal line and another three or four that found the pipes.”

Abby Bollig (3-1) drew the starting assignment in goal and suffered her first loss of the season, stopping 25 of 29 shots.

“She made some very nice saves early when the rest of the team wasn’t clicking yet,” Holmes said. “She held the game close for us to stay in striking distance and did a nice job gathering rebounds.”

The loss dropped the Tigers to the .500 mark in South Suburban play at 5-5-3. Farmington (10-6-3 overall) sits in a fifth place tie with Lakeville North in the 10-team South Suburban Conference standings.

“In the end it was a great example for the team of how we are able to take control when we get our mindset right,” Holmes said, “It proved that we are not just able to compete with teams we are going to have to beat come playoffs, but straight up dominate them.”

Next up on the docket is a Friday night home showdown with the Burnsville Blaze, owners of a season mark of 7-12-0, 3-10 in league action.