Third Period Rush Propels Irish Past Tigers

By Pat Rupp

Farmington won the statistical battle but Rosemount prevailed on the scoreboard in a 5-2 South Suburban Conference victory over the Tigers in Tuesday’s season opener at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The home team finished the night with a lopsided 53-22 shots-on-goal advantage but whiffed on five power play chances and never managed to secure a lead.

Farmington coach Jon Holmes said he was disappointed in the outcome but in the end the loss might have provided a good lesson for his young team.

“It was a bad loss because we had more than enough opportunities,” he said, “but it just may have been the wake-up call we needed.

“Our transitions and defensive zone play were below even the pedestrian level. We were not playing with a sense of urgency in our own end to clear rebounds to get the puck out of the zone.

The Irish scored the lone goal of the opening period and went up 2-0 early in the second before Claire Enright got her team on the board late in the period with a goal on assists from Cassie Knutson and Carly Lancaster.

Brenna Fuhrman (from Samantha Moehle) knotted the score three minutes into the final frame but Rosemount scored three unanswered goals, one on the power play, in the final 10 minutes to pull away.

“That third goal was a back-breaker for us,” Holmes said. “We couldn’t seem to come back from it.

Despite the gaudy shots-on-goal numbers, Holmes said his team was settling too much for shots from the perimeter, especially early on.

 “I’d say when we didn’t have the puck there was a lot of standing around and waiting for others to do something,” Holmes said. “When we were in control we generated a lot of chances and I’m sure we will start finding the net.

“As the game went on we did a better job getting to close range…All in all, I’d say we made progress. As a young team we need to find the areas that need attention.”

The game marked the varsity debut of goaltender of Ryleigh Furlong who stopped 17 of 22 shots for a save percentage of .773.

Farmington doesn’t have much time to mourn its season-opening loss as it gets back to business Saturday afternoon with another South Suburban contest at Prior Lake.