 |
| Chris Fitzgibbons 2 goals, 2 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
"One of the important things we had to do was not look by this game," Tiger coach Paul Sorensen. "We knew what we had to do and we got that done."
Four different players scored goals as the home team lit up the scoreboard twice in each of the first two periods to take a 4-0 halftime lead.
Chris Fitzgibbons, Corey Rudrud, Mitch Hilton and Nick Hinnenkamp netted the Tiger goals in the opening half.
The Raiders drew first blood in the third quarter but Hilton's second score of the night put the lead back to four goals at the end of the third.
Dan Block made it 6-1 early in the fourth quarter before Northfield notched its second goal, another playing with a man advantage.
"That's been the story all year for us," Sorensen said. "Even up we can play with anyone but when we start taking penalties we run into trouble."
Fitzgibbons netted his second of the night to make it 7-2 and then Kevin Clifton put a cherry on the victory cake with a score in the game's final three minutes.
Fitzgibbons added a pair of assists to his two goals for a four-point night and Hilton had an assist to go with his two goals. Rudrud finished with a goal and an assist, and Hinnenkamp, Tyler Jette and Jake Herrera each recorded assists for the winners.
 |
| Mitch Hilton 2 goals, assist (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
Sorensen said his team may be a little ahead of where he expected at this point of the season.
"When you looked at the schedule on paper, I think we picked up a couple of wins along the way that we might not have been sure of," he said. "That helped us get the second seed and we'll see how things go from here."
Next up is a Friday re-match at Tiger Stadium with third-seeded Lakeville South who beat Owatonna 9-4 in its opening round game.
"South (5-9) plays in a good conference, so their record is a little deceiving," Sorensen said.
Farmington downed South 9-3 in the opening game of the regular season.
