Enright, Moser Pace Tigers Past Owatonna

by Pat Rupp

A newcomer and a seasoned veteran led a second and third period scoring binge that gave the Tigers their fourth consecutive win, a 7-1 rout of Owatonna Tuesday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Eighth-grader Claire Enright recorded a hat trick and added an assist while senior Ellie Moser scored two goals and assisted on a third for the winners who moved to 4-1 for the season.

Farmington scored all of its goals in the second (4) and third (3) periods after the teams skated to a scoreless tie in the opening frame despite the Tigers outshooting their guests by a wide 15-8 margin.

“We pestered the net pretty good in the first with no success,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “Throughout the game we had many wide open chances that we just sent across the crease but didn’t put away.”

The floodgates opened in the second period. Enright netted the first two goals followed by scores by Moser and Lexi Budensiek.

Moser’s second of the night made it 5-0 before Owatonna finally got on the board midway through the third. Brenna Furhman answered in kind for the Tigers and then Enright completed her hat trick to close out the night’s scoring.

The three-goal night was the third (by three different players) this season for the Farmington squad.

“It was awesome to see Claire get a hat trick,” Holmes said. “She is just an eighth grader and she has been getting used to the pace of play and the physicality of the high school game in very quick fashion. 

“In last night’s game you could tell she had more confidence with the type of game it was. It was a great setting for her to see the ice, make some plays to the net and find some twine.”

Moser’s two goals gave her a team-high eight for the season. The Bemidji State recruit also leads the Tigers in total points with 10.

Gabriella Hudson chipped in with a pair of assists for Farmington, Jenna Gerold, Carly Simon and Cassie Knutson each had one.

Abby Bollig (2-1) picked up her second victory in goal for the victors with 12 saves. Farmington outshot the Huskies by a one-sided margin of 48-13.

Since opening night, a 3-2 loss to Lakeville North, the Tiger offense has been a scoring machine with 26 goals, an average of 6.3 an outing.  Not too mention all three of North’s goals were on the powerplay for the Tiger’s opening night and since then the Tigers have given up only 1 additional power play goal.

Holmes said he is satisfied with that number but still thinks his team’s work on the defensive side has plenty of room for improvement.

“In the first period there were a couple of times we let them have the middle of the rink and we just cannot do that,” he said. “Couple that with the many missed scoring opportunities we had and the girls need to know that those types of missed plays may not get covered up in games against top- rated teams.”

The Tigers will hit the road for the first time this season Thursday night when they travel to Burnsville for a South Suburban Conference match-up with the Blaze.