Tigers Handle Mayo, Advance to Section Semifinals

by Pat Rupp

Farmington (13-11-1) and Rochester Mayo (14-11) sported almost identical season records heading into Wednesday night’s Section 1AA quarterfinal game at Schmitz-Maki Arena. It didn’t take too long to figure out that records can be deceiving.

The Tigers played a rugged 18-game South Suburban Conference schedule as well as non-league games against Class AA powers Eden Prairie and Maple Grove and Class A-rated Red Wing and New Prague. That rigorous campaign paid post-season dividends in a 6-1 breeze past the Spartans.

“The South Suburban definitely sets us up to be able to compete with any team in the state, and despite having a worse win-loss record than Mayo, it was apparent that our weekly battles had prepped us accordingly,” Tiger coach Jon Holmes said.

“It wasn’t our cleanest game by any means. There were times we played downright sloppy in terms of our positioning and the consistent effort level. We did, however, manage to do exactly what we needed to do by keeping the game in our control on the scoreboard throughout.”

Junior Kiley Braatz and eighth-grader Carly Lancaster each scored twice for Farmington in the opening round victory which saw the Tigers outshoot Mayo by a 32-21 margin. 

Braatz’s two scores were her first of the season and according to her coach it was just what his team needed.

“She went hard to the net on both goals,” Holmes said. “The third line plays a vital role in every single game, and in a game like this they can often be the “spark” the rest of the team needs because they are hungry to score and take advantage of opportunities that are not always afforded.”

Leading scorer Ellie Moser kicked off the night’s scoring with her 18th goal of the year just 2:02 into the game. Braatz and Lancaster also scored in the opening period, each with an assist from Marissa Agerter, to give the home team a three-goal lead heading to the first break.

Braatz (from Lexie Budensiek) and Lancaster each notched her second goal of the game by the midway point of the second period to make it 5-0 before the Spartans’ Brooke Haskins finally broke the Mayo scoring drought.

Megan Bernu (from Moser) added the finishing touches on the win with a goal with three minutes to play in the second before the teams skated through a scoreless third period.

Emily Auge drew the starting assignment in goal for the Tigers and finished her 5th win of the season with a 20-save performance.  "Mayo had some point blank chances early and Emily did a great job staying on point," Holmes added.

“I was very proud of how we limited our ‘brain breaks’ and were able to keep the game out of reach from Mayo,” Holmes said. “There were lots of great lessons for us moving to the next round.  I would say it was the exact type of game we needed to keep us motivated, energized, and eager to keep learning going forward.”

The win vaulted the third-seeded Tigers into the section semifinals Saturday night at No. 2- seeded Lakeville North. The teams split their two games during the regular season. North shutout the Tigers 3-0 at Lakeville and Farmington beat the Panthers 2-1 at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Ames Arena in Lakeville.