Boys Hockey: Tigers beat clock, Northfield

Justin Novak netted the game-winner with 3.3 seconds left in OT (photo by Jim Lindquist)

It took 57 and minutes and 56.7 seconds but the Tigers still managed to win their 13th consecutive game Saturday night with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over Northfield at Northfield Arena.

Justin (Time) Novak provided the game-winner with 3.3 seconds left in the eight-minute extra session.

The Missota Conference triumph boosted Farmington's league-leading record to 10-0-1 and its overall mark to a lofty 18-3-1.

"We got down again despite carrying the play," Tiger coach Keith Revels said. "We threw up 50 shots and were still deadlocked in a 2-2 tie, but we just kept coming. With 12 seconds left we found a way to get it up the rink and on to the stick of our leading scorer with 3.3 seconds to spare."

As has been the case since their last loss on Dec. 17, a span of 46 days, the Tigers peppered the opponent's net with shots. Farmington finished the night with an incredible 57-19 shots on goal advantage.

Grady Hauswirth assisted on the deciding goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The scoreboard only pays off on goals, however, and the only shots the visitors could get by red-hot Raider goalie Matt Foss came midway through the second period after Northfield had taken a 1-0 lead.

Tanner Grubb (from Jack Erickson and Dallas Tucker) and Chris Fitzgibbons (from Grady Hauswirth and Jake Trippel) provided the goals but Northfield tied it up late in the second to set the stage for Novak's overtime dramatics.

Farmington outshot the Raiders 17-3 over the final 17 minutes of regulation but had only missed opportunities to show for its effort.

The teams seemed headed for a tie with the clock ticking down in overtime when Austin Martinsen sent the puck up the right boards to Hauswirth who re-directed it to Tyler Jette. Jette then fed it to Novak who flipped it over the outstretched leg pad of Foss and into the net.

Nick Schoening drew his second straight start in goal for the Tigers and won for the seventh time in eight starts with a 17-save effort.

The win capped a rare three games-in-in-five-nights stretch for the winners who earlier in the week beat second place New Prague and Holy Angels.

Tyler Jette put the puck on Novak's stick for the game-winner (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Revels said continuing to play good hockey and win Farmington's first Missota Conference title in 39 years remains his team's focus. The win streak, one of the longest in school history, is of little concern.

"To be honest, no mention of it has been uttered in my presence in the locker room or on the practice ice," he said.

Three games remain on the conference schedule, starting with Thursday's home encounter with Chanhassen. Next Tuesday the Tigers travel to Shakopee before returning home two days later (Feb. 13) for the season finale against Chaska.

Tiger Scoreboard: February 2, 2014

Boys Hockey
Farmington 3 Northfield 2 (OT)
Tigers win 13th straight

Girls Hockey
Farmington 2 Holy Angels 2 (OT)
Tigers finish the regular season with 11-12-2 record

Girls B-Ball: Tigers fall to Sabers

Kaitlyn Gorden 8 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists (file photo by Jim Lindquist)

Shakopee got off to a quick start and the Tigers could never recover in a 66-43 Missota Conference loss Friday night at Tiger Gym.

The defeat was the third straight for Farmington which saw its season record dip below the .500 mark at 8-9. The Tigers are 3-4 in the conference through the first round of league play.

"It was not our best showing tonight," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "We came out very flat and did not adjust well to Shakopee’s defense in the first half.  They are a very good team who I am sure will be competing for the conference title as the season goes on."

The Sabers used their pressure defense to force several early turnovers and score the first nine points of the night. Shakopee led 30-17 at the halftime break.

"I thought we played better in the second half," coach Chadwick said. "We took better care of the ball and moved well to get better shots against their zone."  

The Sabers featured a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures while no Farmington player reached double digits. 

Sofia Chadwick, Jordyn Homeier and Kaitlyn Gorden tied for team scoring honors with eight points apiece. Gorden had a big night on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds, and also led the team in assists with five.

"I thought both Morgan Mach and Leah Hammond also played well off the bench for us tonight." Chadwick said.

The Tigers will be looking to get back on track next Friday when they kick off the second round of Missota Conference play with a home game against Red Wing.

Wrestling: Tigers spilt at Mayo

Taylor Venz went 2-0 at the Mayo triangular (photo by Jim Lindquist)

After three head-to-head meets at Northfield on Thursday night the Tigers got back on the bus and traveled to Rochester Friday for a triangular meet with Section 1AA rivals Owatonna and Rochester Mayo.

The meet produced mixed results, a one-sided 50-18 win over Mayo and a 36-15 loss to the No. 6-rated (Class 3A) Huskies.

Farmington piled up pins like cord wood in the win over Mayo with seven Tigers scoring six-point falls: Victor Gliva (106 pounds), Skylar Raymond (113), Jamin LeDuc (120), John Walz (170), Joe Hoeve (182), Godfrey Mpetey (225) and CJ Wynings (285).

Taylor Venz added five points with a technical fall in the 126-pound bout and Brayden Chapman scored a decision in the 145-pound match.

Victories were scarce in the loss to Owatonna who won 10 of the 14 individual match-ups.

Hoeve logged a tech fall to run his season record to 26-6 and Matt Rustad scored a major decision in the 132-pound contest. The other six Farmington points came on decisions by Venz and Wynings.

LeDuc, rated No. 3 in the state at 113 lbs, lost for just the third time this season, a 7-4 decision to second-ranked Tanner Cole.

The Tigers close out their regular season next Thursday and Friday with road dual meets at Stillwater and Anoka. The Section 1AA post-season tournament begins the following week.

Boys B-Ball: Effort there, but same result

Zach Speikers scored a team-high 16 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

After Tuesday night's 25-point beatdown by Shakopee at Tiger Gym, coach Shane Wyandt said his team would have to improve in three areas if it was going to be competitive in Friday's Missota Conference rematch at Shakopee: shooting, defensive rebounding and effort.

The effort was there but the shooting remained frosty (8 for 24 in the first half) and the Sabers' edge on the boards continued in a 62-50 loss.

The defeat was the third in a row for the Tigers who started the season on a 14-3 run. The loss dropped them to 4-4 in league play.

"I thought our effort was much better tonight," Wyandt said, "but we turned the ball over way too much and gave them (Shakopee) too many easy baskets because we didn't control the defensive glass. You can't do those things and expect to beat a good team like that."

The visitors got an early taste of what was to come when they turned the ball over on three of their first four trips down the floor.

Fortunately, the Sabers weren't shooting the ball very well and the games stayed close early. The score was tied at 10-10 before Tiger turnovers and Shakopee put-back propelled the Sabers to a 10-point halftime lead at 33-23.

"Between out turnovers and their offensive rebounding, they got a lot of easy baskets." Wyandt said. "We stressed at halftime the importance of getting the ball inside against their zone and hitting the defensive boards."

Farmington heeded the halftime advice early in the second period. The Tigers opened the half on a 10-2 spurt with all of the points coming from post players Eli Rockett and Nick Varner.

Sophomore Alex Hart came off the bench to add a couple of more baskets inside to pull the Tigers to 46-42 with 6:50 to play but then the 10th-ranked Sabers put together an 11-1 run of their own to pull away.

Zach Speikers rebounded from his sub-par outing on Tuesday (4 points) to lead the Tigers in scoring with 16 points. Rockett added 14.

Wyandt said the biggest thing about the recent three-game slide is the effect is the effect it is having on his team's confidence.

"We've seen how well we can play," he said. "We know what we have to do to get back to the way we played earlier in the season and I am confident we will get there."

Wednesday the Tigers play host to Chaska who shot the lights out in an 84-70 win earlier in the season at Chaska. Friday night it's on to Red Wing for a rematch with the Wingers.