Two Tigers sign on with Division II teams

Josh Patterson (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Two athletes from the Tiger class of 2014 have cast their collegiate lots with out-of-state NCAA Division II schools.

Josh Patterson, who anchored the offensive line for the Tigers last season while earning all-Missota Conference honors, will play football next fall for the South Dakota School of Mines located in Rapid City.

Maddie Kohlbeck, a fixture in goal for the Tiger lacrosse team her entire high school career, is headed to Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois where she will join that school's highly successful lacrosse program.

Maddie Kohlbeck (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Tiger Scoreboard: February 7, 2014

 

Boys Hockey

Farmington 3 Chanhassen 0

Wrestling Stillwater triangular

Farmington 64 Central 6

Farmington 39 Stillwater 25

Boys B-Ball: Tiger rebound, rout Chaska

Eli Rockett 25 points, seven rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Last month Chaska put on a three-point shooting clinic in an 84-70 win over the Tigers in Chaska.

In Wednesday night's rematch at Tiger Gym the tables turned as the home team rolled by the Hawks 80-63 in game not nearly as close as the final score

The Missota  Conference victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Farmington and raised its league mark to 5-4. The Tigers are 15-6 overall..

"We knew going in they were going to score their points," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said, "but we did a much better job tonight of contesting shots. We also controlled the boards and cut down our turnovers.

"Like I told the guys, we are same same players, the same team that had lost three in a row. Tonight we just did the things we need to do to be successful."

Wyatt Ferm career-high 22 points

The game was tight early with the Tigers trailing 20-17 when junior Wyatt Ferm came off the bench and promptly went on a personal 14-point scoring binge to give his team a 31-22 bulge. Ferm went five-for six from the field during the spurt that included a trio three-pointers.

"Wyatt is playing with a lot of confidence right now," Wyandt said. "He scored the ball but he also did a lot of other things well for us tonight."

Farmington was up by 10 before a closing 9-2 run sparked by Zach Speikers and Eli Rockett  made it a 19-pont lead at halftime.

The Tiger lead ballooned to as many 26 (76-50) in the second half before both teams went to their benches for the final four-plus minutes.

Rockett finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Tigers and also pulled down seven rebounds.

"Eli was really aggressive inside tonight," Wyandt said. "That's what we need from him every night."

Ferm finished with a career-high 22 points and Speikers tallied 16. Nick Varner added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Mac Bassett chipped in with seven rebounds before tweaking a knee in the second half.

Farmington won the battle of the boards 34-24 and just as importantly, turned the ball over just eight times.

"Much better job of taking care of the ball tonight," Wyandt said.

Friday the Tigers travel to Red Wing for a league encounter with the Wingers. Farmington won 69-64 when the teams met last month at Tiger Gym but Red Wing has been playing much better since the return of leading scorer Ty Buck.

"He is a load for them, a very good player," Wyandt said. "We'll need the same kind of effort that we had tonight."

Girls Hockey: Upset City

Megan Stivers scored the game-winner in overtime (photo by Jim Lindquist)

When Rochester John Marshall paid a visit to Schmitz-Maki Arena on Nov. 19, the Rockets skated to a 5-2 win and clearly got the better of the play.

Fast forward to Farmington's exciting 2-1 overtime victory over the same team in the Section 1AA quarterfinals in Rochester Wednesday night to get a crystal clear picture of how far coach Jon Holmes' squad has come in three months.

"After a solid first period I think we rattled their cage a little, Holmes said, "and we all knew we were in for a good game. It was a well-earned win. We played three solid periods."

John Marshall (21-4) entered the contest riding the crest of a 14-game winning streak  The Rockets last loss occurred Dec. 10 in a 6-2 loss to Dodge County.

Megan Stivers' goal (from Michaela Tonsager and Maddi Oines) 3:05 into sudden death overtime gave the sixth-seeded Tigers the upset win over third-seeded John Marshall.

The contest was close throughout with neither team able to get on the scoreboard until the final period.

The Rockets struck first on a power play opportunity just 18 seconds into the third but the Tigers' Dani Wright (from Oines) countered with a power play goal at the other end to set up Stivers' overtime heroics.

Dani Wright's first goal of the season tied the score at 1-1 (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Wright's goal, a slap shot from the point, was her first of the season and couldn't have come at a better time.

"Dani has been getting lots of chances and opportunities this entire year," Holmes said, "but she just couldn’t find that twine until tonight."

The game-winner came from the Tonsager-Oines-Stivers trio with Stivers jamming in a rebound from close range. 

The other key ingredients in the upset win were Farmington's solid defensive play and the net work of goaltender Molly Singewald who stopped 28 of 29 shots sent her direction. 

"The defense did a phenomenal job keeping pucks outside of the slot and not only winning races but also winning battles in our own zone," Holmes said.  

"This limited the point blank shots but even when those came, Molly did a wonderful job cutting down the angles and controlling the rebounds and limit second chance opportunities. This has been a solid component of our game for the entire year and often we forget that winning games comes from the defensive zone out."

The win vaulted Farmington (12-12-1) into Saturday's semifinals where they will face third-seeded Dodge County (20-5) at Four Seasons Arena in Kasson. Dodge County beat Owatonna 7-1 in its first round game and has won its last 11 games. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m

Molly Singewald's 28 stops helped preserve the win (photo by Jim Lindquist)

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Tiger Scoreboard: February 6, 2014

Girls Hockey
Section 1AA quarterfinals
Farmington 2 Rochester John Marshall 1 (OT)

Boys Basketball
Farmington 80 Chaska 63