Tigers Strike Overtime Gold

By Pat Rupp

Kennedy Meier’s overtime goal gave Farmington an exciting 3-2 South Suburban Conference win over Eastview Thursday night at the Apple Valley Sports Arena.

Madison Kadrlik assisted on the game-winner that vaulted the Tigers into a fifth-place tie with Shakopee in the 10-team South Suburban Conference standings. The Tigers are 7-8 in conference play and 9-12 overall.

“This was a very solid and complete road win for us,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “We still had moments where we got tired and lacked good position but they were far fewer than recent games.”

After a scoreless first period, Olivia Andrews got the visitors on the board with her first goal of the year five minutes into the second. The Lightning struck two minutes later but Kenna Kadrlik gave the Tigers the lead later in the period on an unassisted goal to set up a raucous final 17 minutes-plus.

Eastview garnered the only goal of the third frame to force the extra period which ended on Meier’s third goal of the season.

Farmington goaltender Addison Moudry picked up her eighth win of the season with 28 saves.

“We still were experimenting with different combinations but overall, I think the girls are starting to learn how to play outside their comfort zone,” Holmes said. After the Minnetonka game, we needed get back on track and it was nice to see us bounce back into an upward trajectory.”

The Minnetonka game to which Holmes referred was Tuesday night’s non-conference affair at Schmitz-Maki Arena that saw the Skippers, the state’s third-ranked team, leave town with a dominant 8-1 win.

“Going in we knew we would be up against it,” Holmes said. “We would have to play a near perfect game in the defensive zone to be successful. At times we did that, but when we got caught puck watching it showed on the scoreboard.”

Tonka scored the first six goals of the night and led 6-1 after two periods. Abby Gehrke recorded the lone Farmington score on assists from Sam Moehle and Kenna Kadrlik late in the second period.

The Skippers outshot the Tigers 43-20. Kieley Curow and Moudry shared the netminding duties for Farmington, combining for 35 saves.

“Playing teams like Minnetonka is a valuable tool,” Holmes said. “It is an essential component of the learning process and will hopefully help us prepare for the rest of the regular season and section.”

Farmington closes out its three-game week with a South Suburban home contest with Eagan on Saturday before facing another busy three-game stretch next week: Monday against Hill-Murray followed by road games with Burnsville and Rosemount Thursday and Saturday.

Three Close Encounters at Holiday Classic

By Pat Rupp

The Tigers gave their fans more than their share of thrills at the 17th annual Louie Schmitz Holiday Classic played the week after Christmas at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Farmington faced three pre-determined opponents in the invitational meet, slipping by Owatonna 4-3 on Tuesday before dropping back-to-back overtime decisions, 5-4  to East Ridge and 3-2 to old Missota Conference rival Northfield on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the three games, the Tigers outshot the opposition by a resounding 128-77 but an inability to finish and an occasional defensive lapse prevented a better result.

“We had some flashes of brilliance partnered with a few letdowns,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “In all three games we had the majority of possession, but on the other hand we had complete shutdowns in terms of our positioning and situational play.

“We have to figure out not only how not give up goals in those situations but not getting into them to begin with. If we do that, it will make our dominance in the stats department lead to more wins.”

Farmington 4 Owatonna 3

The girls started the tourney with a squeaker of a win over Section 1AA rival Owatonna despite outshooting the Huskies by

a lopsided 37-17.

The teams were tied 1-1 after two periods before the scoring floodgates opened in the fast-paced third frame. Sam Moehle’s first of three goals accounted for the Farmington score in the opening period.

The Huskies took a brief lead at the start of the third period but back-to-back power play goals by Moehle and Madison Kadrlik (from Kenna Kadrlik and Moehle) put the home team back in front. Three of Farmington’s four scores came on the power play.

The visitors re-tied the count midway through the third before Moehle completed her hat trick with the game-winner (from Kenna Kadrlik and Jenna Bethke) with four-plus minutes left in regulation.

Tiger goalkeeper Addison Moudry recorded 14 saves in posting her fifth win of the season.

East Ridge 5 Farmington 4 (OT)

The two teams combined for 79 shots in the second-round shootout with each team holding a two-goal lead before ending regulation tied at 4-4.

Farmington led 2-0 after one period on goals by Moehle and Morgan Mitchell only to have the Raptors rattle off three unanswered goals in the second period to take the lead.

Park stretched its lead to 4-2 early in the third but Moehle came to the rescue with two late goals to record her second hat trick in as many nights and send the contest into a sudden-death, eight-minute extra session.

Moehle’s second goal of the night included assists from Kenna Kadrlik and Bethke; her third came on the power play.

“Sam continues to be a calming and dominating presence both on and off the ice,” Holmes said. “She shows a lot of composure with the puck.”

Park’s Bella Schmidt’s second goal of the game came less than a minute into the overtime period and gave her team the victory.

Kieley Curow worked the Tiger nets and turned away 27 of the 32 shots sent her way. Farmington finished with 47 shots on the Park goal.

Northfield 3 Farmington 2 (OT)

Ayla Puppe’s second goal of the night with just 18 seconds left in overtime gave the Raiders the win in the battle of Section 1AA rivals.

Abby Gehrke (from Bethke) and Northfield’s Megan Snyder traded goals for a 1-1 draw headed to the first intermission.

Puppe made it 2-1 Raiders after two periods before Kenna Kadrlik (from Gehrke and Moehle) forced overtime with a score at 15:31 of the third period.

The Tigers outshot the Raiders 9-6 in the overtime period but could not get the puck by Northfield’s senior goalie Maggie Malecha who finished the night with a robust 46 saves.

Malecha is one of the top goaltenders in the state, carrying a 1.64 goals- against average into the game.

Moudry was back between the pipes for the Tigers, finishing with 25 saves.

The Tigers will take an overall record of 6-7, 4-4 in conference play, into Thursday’s home game at Rosemount. Saturday they begin the second round of conference play with a road game against Apple Valley.

“We are looking forward to making improvements in January,” Holmes said. “We are getting healthier with Kennedy Meier’s return looking positive. She is a skilled player who will certainly help us when she returns.”