Moser, Tigers Rally Late for 5-4 Win at Prior Lake

Eleanor Moser is a game-breaker.  The stalwart senior forward for the Tigers’ girls hockey team scored her second goal of the game and the game-winner on a breakaway with 57 seconds left to give visiting Farmington a thrilling 5-4 victory over Prior Lake (9-8-1, 5-5 conference) at the Dakotah Ice Arena on Thursday night. The Tigers, ranked 16th in Class AA, improved to 13-4 overall and 7-3 in the South Suburban Conference, tied with Lakeville South for second-place behind league-leading Eagan (9-1). 

The Tigers trailed 4-3 for the entire third period until the Lakers took a penalty late in regulation.  Not a good thing to do against Farmington.  Junior forward Jenna Gerold potted the tying goal with 1:17 left, her seventh of the season, with freshman defenseman Brenna Fuhrman assisting.   

Following the tying marker, Tiger head coach Jon Holmes called a time-out.  He remarked, “The game was a roller coaster ride for sure, for us.  Every time we capitalized when we had zone play in our favor, we seemed to give up an awkward goal to let them right back in the game.  I wanted to make sure we kept our emotions in check and focus on keeping the roller coaster in our favor.”

Mission accomplished.  Just 18 seconds after Gerold’s key tally, Moser breezed down the ice on a breakaway and beat Laker senior goalie Hannah Schultz to put the Tigers ahead for good.  It was Moser’s 20th goal of the season and her 100th with the Tiger varsity.  She is now 8th on the Tiger all-time scoring list. Ellie is the only girl to score that many goals while playing her entire career in Class AA and also while playing in the South Suburban Conference. Callie Flor remains the all-time leading scorer with 239 with Krystal Bauman second with 168.

The Tigers had given up just five goals in their past six games and only 23 total goals in their previous 16 games but the Lakers were a tough opponent on this cold night.  Despite giving up four goals, Farmington’s potent power-play (28.6%) came through in the clutch before Moser provided the game-winner.  The Lakers were tough competition at home, especially after losing to the Tigers 6-1 on the road on Nov. 18.  Farmington outshot Prior Lake 28-23.  Tiger senior Abby Bollig had 19 saves to improve her record to 6-2.  She entered the game with a miniscule 1.15 goals-against average.

Freshman forward Carly Lancaster opened the scoring midway through the initial period with assists from Gerold and junior forward Marissa Agerter.  The host Lakers tied it when Taylor Murray, the team’s second-leading goal-scorer with 11, lit the lamp at 11:03.  Moser put the visitors ahead 2-1 with her first tally with two minutes remaining as junior defenseman Cassie Knutson and eighth-grade forward Claire Enright were credited with the helpers. Leah Pavlish scored the first of her two goals to knot it up in the stanza’s final minute.

In the middle period, Farmington outshot Prior Lake 13-8.  This season, the Tigers have outscored their opponents 28-5 in the second but the pesky Lakers forged a 4-3 lead on the strength of goals from Pavlish and senior forward Katie Huntington, who scored her team-leading 22nd goal.  The Tiger goal was scored by senior forward Gabriella Hudson with an assist from sophomore forward Izzy Zwart. 

Holmes added, “The entire night felt like a bad dream as noting seemed to be going our way.  We were having a hard time settling the puck on our sticks and we had many scoring opportunities that didn’t pan out until the end of the game.  Despite not having much “puck luck”, the girls never once got negative on the bench and never once had the mentality that the game was done.  It was nice to see them grit this one out and take home a good conference win.”

The exciting triumph, perhaps, will help motivate the Tiger girls for their next task, a match with top-rated Blake at Schmitz-Maki Arena at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.