Tigers Win Battle of the Big Cats

By Pat Rupp

Farmington shook off a bit of holiday rust on the way to a 4-2 South Suburban Conference win over Lakeville North Tuesday night at Ames Arena in Lakeville.

“It had been 10 days since our last game before Thanksgiving,” Tiger coach Jon Holmes said, “and we played like it the first two periods. Throw in playing on the Olympic-sized rink and it made it a challenge. Fortunately, we were able to find a way to play through the lapses.”

Farmington (2-1) accounted for the only score of the opening period when Samantha Moehle scored the first of her two goals on Carly Lancaster sixth assist of the season.

The Panthers knotted the count late in the second on a goal by Brooke Power but Lancaster countered with a score from Moehle and Cassie Knutson two minutes later to give the visitors a slim 2-1 lead heading into the final stanza.

Brenna Fuhrman (from Claire Enright) notched her second goal of the season on the power play less than a minute into the third to extend the Farmington lead but North responded on a goal by Sydney Antonakis to make it a one-goal contest with ten minutes to play in regulation.

Freshman Moehle finally put the game away with an unassisted goal with four and a half minutes remaining.

“Sammy is really finding her own on that first line,” Holmes said. “She plays pretty tough and works well with Claire and Lanny. It's been fun working with her over the summer and watching her get better every time she hits the ice.”

The victory was the second in a row for sophomore goaltender Ryleigh Furlong who Holmes said is beginning to find her rhythm in the nets.

“Ryleigh has looked much more comfortable the past two games,” he said.  “She made some solid saves at North and her comfort level will continue to grow with each start.”

Furlong stopped 20 of 22 shots sent her way as the Tigers finished with a final 30-22 advantage in the shots on goal department.

Holmes added that the short trip to Ames Arena made him realize just how young his 2018-19 squad actually is.

“We are so young,” he said. “Listening to the starting lineup announced was a real eye opener. We had four sophomores and two freshmen and even though I’ve said it many times, it really sunk in how young we really are. 

“Cassie Knutson (senior captain) has really done a great job of providing a calming presence on the ice and Jenna Gerold (senior captain out until after Christmas with a knee injury) has been a big help guiding our younger players off the ice.”

The Tigers will put their two-game winning streak on the line Thursday night when they host Burnsville (5-1) at Schmitz-Maki Arena. The Blaze has allowed just two goals in six starts this season.