Girls hockey: Ready for a rematch

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Farmington won its rematch against Lakeville North Tuesday and was set to take on Lakeville South Friday in the section title game.

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Farmington started the Section 1AA tournament the same way it did last season, by piling up eight goals in a home victory over Dodge County Friday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The Tigers are hoping their second tournament game will play out differently than it did a year ago, when they lost 5-3 in a semifinal showdown at Lakeville North. The 15th-ranked Tigers will get another shot at the 12th-ranked Panthers back in Lakeville Tuesday night.

“All in all we are playing our best hockey of the year and I am confident we will show up with our game faces Tuesday night,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “Tuesday we will be ready to play. North is a very tough squad that fights until the end, so I am anticipating an exciting game.”

North (20-6) was a 4-2 winner in an early-season matchup between the two teams in late November. Holmes said his team started the game strong before sruggling over the final two periods.

“I thought we played a very solid first period and we exited the ice after the first with a lead,” he said. “The following two periods for us were not as good. We came out with a lost spark and almost a sense of being lost on the big ice.”

The Panthers have won nine of their last 10 games since suffering three straight losses to Burnsville, Lakeville South and Rosemount in mid-January.

Farmington (19-6) has won six in a row and 13 of 14 games dating back to a 1-0 loss to Rochester Mayo Dec. 21. North beat Mayo 4-1 in their section tournament opener Friday night.

The Tigers had even less trouble in their section opener against Dodge County. Senior Krystal Baumann scored four goals — giving her an even 50 for the season — in an 8-1 win.

“The team came out ready to play. The buzz of playoffs was definitely in the building,” Holmes said. “The band was rockin’ Schmitz-Maki and the kids wanted to make sure that the seniors were sent off in their last home game with a bang.”

Baumann opened the scoring with a power play goal 12:20 into the first period. Teammate Betsy Anderson added a goal just over a minute later and the score stood at 2-0 after a period.

Baumann doubled the lead with a pair of scores — the second one short-handed — early in the second. Senior Hannah Alexander’s 24th goal of the season made it 5-0, and, after Dodge County’s lone goal, Chloe Batta found the back of the net to make it 6-1 Tigers.

Baumann, a University of Vermont recruit, made it her fifth four-goal game of the season by scoring on passes from Anderson and Bria Donnelly 8:45 into the third. Haleigh Zwart then capped the scoring with a goal on a pass from Grace Gavin.

Anderson and Rachael Peroutky each assisted on two other Farmington goals.

Jessica Erchul picked up the win in the net, stopping 25 of 26 Dodge County shots for a save percentage of .962. Erchul improved her career playoff record to 7-4 and lowered her goals against average to 2.0.

Tags: girls hockey, sports, farmington, tigers, prep