Better Effort, Same Result in Section Semis

by Pat Rupp

For the second straight season the end of the Farmington season came in the form of a shutout loss to Dodge County in the Section 1AA semifinals at the Dodge County Arena in Kasson.

The second-seeded Wildcats blanked the third-seeded Tigers 3-0 to advance to Friday night’s championship against South Suburban Conference champion Lakeville South, a 7-3 victor over crosstown rival Lakeville North in its semifinal match-up.

Dodge County scored a 6-0 win over the Tigers in last year’s section semifinal game played on the same sheet of ice.

“It was a tad eerie having the season end in the same locker room,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “I thought this year was definitely a different game, however. The shots were pretty even and our shot attempts were of a much higher quality than theirs. 

“We had our chances and missed a few that were right on the doorstep that I know 99 times out of 100 find their way in…But I was proud of the game we played. We hustled and we competed in all the areas we needed to.”

Dodge County scored goals in each period, two by leading scorer Bella Wagner, to advance to the title game for the second straight season.

“We definitely were prepared but we just could not find the twine,” Holmes said. “The entire game, even up to about four minutes left, we all felt like it was bound to happen because of the chances we were getting.”

The Wildcats outshot the Tigers 31-23 for the night with Farmington goalie Emily Auge finishing with 28 saves.

As for the future, Holmes said it seems bright as co-captains Dani Wright and Maddi Oines are the only seniors on the roster.

“The biggest thing we need to get to the next level is just a little more age,” he said. “We were right there knocking this year and with a couple bounces here and a non-post there we would have found ourselves competing for a section title.”

The Tigers finished the 2015-16 campaign with an overall record of 15-9-3. They went 9-6-3 in the South Suburban where they finished fifth in the final 10-team standings.