27 saves vs. Shakopee
(photo by Jim Lundquist)
Shakopee scored the winning goal late in overtime to defeat the Tigers 2-1 Tuesday, Dec. 28, at Shakopee Arena.
The loss snapped Farmington's four-game winning streak and gave the Sabers some consolation after the Tigers 6-1 win when the two teams squared off earlier this month.
"The upside is that we played well enough to win," coach Keith Revels said. "The downside is that it's a conference loss and gives us a split with Shakopee.
"We worked hard but the puck was not going to bounce our way. Three or four times we had the puck dancing on their goal line but were just short of getting it across."
Shakopee's Davis Madren's first period goal held up until fewer than seevn minutes remained in regulation when John Donnelly picked up a loose puck at the point and one-timed it by Saber goalie Richard Suel to knot the score. Donnelly's goal was the first of his varsity career.
The teams battled evenly through most of the extra period until Farmington's Tyler Grubb was whistled for high-sticking with just 45 seconds to play. Five seconds later, Danile Hespenheide scored the game-winner on the power play.
The penalty call appeared controversial as it was the only infraction of the overtime period and came after Grubb had his legs kicked out from under him.
"Officially, I have no comment about putting one team at a man-disadvantage with 45 seconds left in overtime," Revels said. "I do have an opinion on what should have transpired, but I'll keep that to myself."
Tiger goalie Victor Simones came up with another big performance in the losing effort, stopping 27 of 29 shots.
"Victor was fantastic," Revels said. "He got us to overtime with some third period heroics and he made some great stops in overtime as well."
The Tigers are 5-2 with Simones in the nets this season. Both of the losses have been by 2-1 scores.
The loss dropped the Tigers season mark to 6-4 and 1-1 in Missota Conference play. Shakopee moved to 2-5-1 and 1-1.
Next up for Farmington is a non-conference contest against Park of Cottage Grove Wednesday, Dec. 30, at Cottage Grove Arena.
