Lady Tigers Claim 3-1 Win Over Host Sabers

Senior forward Ellie Moser scored twice and assisted on the other Farmington goal and senior Emily Auge made 32 saves as the visiting Tiger girls’ hockey team downed host Shakopee on Saturday, Jan. 27.  FHS improved to 16-7 overall while the Sabers fell to 11-10-3 and 7-7-2 in loop action.  Farmington improved to 10-5 in South Suburban play, tied for second-place with Lakeville South behind league-leading Eagan (14-1).

The Tigers play their final home regular-season game at Schmitz-Maki Arena on Thursday, Feb. 1 against the Wildcats at 7 p.m.  While Eagan (19-4-1 overall) has wrapped up the conference crown, the Tigers are eager to avenge their 3-2 loss to their rival at Eagan on Dec. 16. 

Shakopee outshot Farmington 33-22 but many of the shots were from the outside and Auge was more than up to the task.  FHS, which has outscored its opponents 86-45 on the season, tallied once in each period.  Junior forward Jenna Gerold added a goal and assist for the orange and black.  Farmington is now 5-4 in its past nine games but has failed to claim consecutive wins since they did against Lakeville North (4-2 on Dec. 29 and 1-0 on Jan. 4).

“Emily Auge played very solid in the nets for us and kept things very manageable for the rest of our team,” remarked head coach Jon Holmes.  “Our goal going into the game was to keep them off the board completely and we only had a couple of times in our defensive zone when we gave up point-blank opportunities.”  Auge picked up her 8th win on the season and lowered her save percentage (.921), as well.

Gerold, who now has 11 goals on the season, scored at 11:40 of the initial period to give the Tigers the lead.  Moser hit her in the low slot with a pass from the corner and Gerold one-timed it to the top shelf, beating Shakopee netminder Brianna Eastman.  Eighth-grade forward Claire Enright also was credited with an assist.  Farmington outshot Shakopee 8-5. 

“We came out flat in the first three minutes,” said Holmes.  “However, we took control of the game both offensively and defensively for most of the way after that.  Our coverage is based on taking away opportunities in the middle of the ice, whether that be in the defensive or neutral zones.”

In the middle period, Moser made it 2-0 when she skated into the Saber zone on a 1-2 and whipped a rocket past Eastman after taking a pass from Gerold at 14:22.  The Tigers were whistled for two consecutive penalties midway through the period but killed them both.  Shakopee outshot the Tigers 13-6 in the stanza.

In the third period, Shakopee pulled to within 2-1 when Emily Roder scored with assists from Jackie Falk and Jamie Lindstrom just two minutes into the frame.  However, the Tigers are used to playing in tight games and kept their composure.  FHS got a two-goal cushion with just under six minutes left when Moser took a pass from sophomore wing Izzy Zwart and beat Eastman cleanly with a low shot to the short side.  Moser leads the team with 27 goals and 37 points. 

Shakopee pulled their goalie with four minutes remaining and Farmington missed on several attempts at the open net.  The Sabers, who outshot the Tigers 15-8 in the final period, mustered a pretty good barrage on Auge but she and the winners held firm.  Shakopee was able to kill off two penalties, no small feat because the Tigers have a potent power-play (30%). 

“Having come off a close loss to Lakeville South, it was nice to bounce back and get this win against a very solid Shakopee team,” summarized Holmes.  “We have been focusing our attention to February for the entire year in terms of peaking and so this was a great game to use to climb the progression ladder going into the final week of the regular season.

After their tussle with Eagan, Farmington finishes with games the next two days with Hopkins/St. Louis Park (7 p.m. at Minnetonka Ice Arena) on Friday, Feb. 2 and then at Eastview (Apple Valley Ice Arena) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3.  Three games in three days is a tough slate for anybody but the Tigers wouldn’t mind doing this in a few weeks because that would be in the state tournament.

Holmes added, “We have a very busy game schedule this coming week and these games will be our last opportunities to get our final adjustments some testing in game situations and, of course, a way to get our mind-set really locked in for the post-season.”