Girls hockey: Another up-and-down week for young Tigers

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Farmington’s two games last week provided perfect examples of the extremes at which a talented, but young and inexperienced hockey team can play.

The Tigers ended their longest losing streak in recent memory, a six-game skid, with a 1-0 upset of 15th-ranked (Class 2A) Eden Prairie last Tuesday at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Three days later, the team took the ice for a Missota Conference game on the road at eighth-ranked (Class 1A) Red Wing and trailed from the first minute on in a 6-1 Wingers rout at Prairie Island Arena.

“It was tough to watch us go from a game like (against) Eden Prairie to a game like this,” Farmington coach Jon Holmes said. “Being a young team these types of games are sometimes a reality, but we certainly do not want to make them a frequent occurrence.”

Senior goaltender Jessica Erchul stopped 46 shots as the Wingers outshot the Tigers 52-27. The score was 6-0 before Haley Doll got the visitors on the board (assist to Chloe Batta) 6:35 into the third period.

One goal was enough for Erchul earlier in the week against Eden Prairie.

Haleigh Zwart scored a power-play goal in the second period (assists to Betsy Anderson and Grace Gavin) and the Tigers held on for a 1-0 non-conference victory.

“Eden Prairie is definitely one of the better teams in the state and it was huge for us to not only come out of this game saying we can play with the best teams, but noting that we can beat them,” Holmes said.

The Eagles had a 42-27 advantage in shots on goal, but Erchul stopped all 42 in picking up the first shutout of her senior season.

“A significant amount of their shots came from outside the slot and we did a wonderful job defensively clearing rebounds and protecting the back doors,” Holmes said. “Erchul played extremely well again and has just continued to prove that she really is a top notch goaltender.”

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