Moehle’s OT Magic Strikes Again in 2-1 Win Over Northfield

By Pat Rupp

For the second time this season freshman Samantha Moehle scored the game-winning goal just seconds into overtime.

Earlier in the month, Moehle slapped in the game-winner 13 seconds into the extra period at Shakopee.

Thursday night she pulled off the same trick 10 seconds into the extra period to give her team a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Section AA rival Northfield in the second round of the Louie Schmitz Holiday Classic.

“The goal was another nice face-off play that didn’t exactly go to plan,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “But we adapted and got the puck to Sam on the left side where she took it into the zone over the top of the circles and beat the goalie on the short side with a nice low wrist shot.”

Moehle’s 11th goal of the season capped what amounted to two games rolled into one. The first two frames featured a defensive battle with the Raiders clinging to a 1-0 lead heading to the final break.

“The first two periods weren’t horrible, but we certainly struggled on the energy side,” coach Holmes said. “The third period came around and we came out like the team we wanted to be right from the start. We won races, transitioned quickly, gathered loose pucks and worked well in pairs getting positive possessions.”

The Tigers outshot Northfield 13-1 over the final 17 minutes to set up Moehle’s overtime heroics on a goal by fellow freshman Claire Enright with four minutes to go in regulation. Enright’s 12th goal of the 2018-19 campaign came on a spot-on boards pass from eighth-grader Madison Kadrlik, her second assist of the season.

Holmes said one of the bright spots in the tournament win was his team’s defensive play.

“We kept pucks outside for the most part and were able to control most of the play despite not having that energy level we needed to take control,” he said.

Another positive to come out of the non-conference win was the impact it could have in post-season rankings,

“Between the second and third periods I let the girls know just how big of a period this was for us,” Holmes said. “Northfield is in our section and with them being in a different conference and the teams not having too many common opponents, a win or a loss could mean a huge difference come seeding time in February.”

The Tigers who held just a 14-9 edge in shots on goal through the first two periods outshot the Raiders 13-1 in the third and finished with a 28-10 advantage. Netminder Ryleigh Furlong lowered her goals-against average to 2.47 with a nine-save effort.

Farmington will face another old Missota Conference and current Section 1AA opponent in its tourney finale, a match-up with New Prague (9-4-1). The Trojans have also won their first two games in the three-day event, defeating Eastview 3-0 and Simley 2-1 in overtime.