2010 Louis Schmitz Holiday Classic Champions
(all photos by Jim Lindquist)
Farmington scored the first five goals and cruised by Hastings 6-2 to claim the championship trophy at the sixth annual Louis Schmitz Holiday Classic played Dec. 28-30 at Schmitz-Maki Arena.
The tourney title was was the first for the Tigers since 2005, the year they began hosting the eight-team holiday get-together.
"We had a very good tournament," a happy coach Jon Holmes said. "We started to put the puck away. We got great goaltending and tonight especially our defense did a great job. We didn't allow many rebounds, something that hurt us in some earlier games."
The first line continued its recent dominant play, with tournament MVP Krystal Baumann and all-tournament sidekick Hannah Alexander each scoring a pair of goals. Alexander and defender Betsy Anderson each added a pair of assists. Chloe Batta also had an assist for the winners.
Hannah Alexander, All-Tournament
(2 goals, 2 assists)
Tournament MVP Krystal Baumann (2 goals)
But the Tigers also got some offensive help from other sources. Katie Burgess notched her first goal of the season on a long shot from outside the left circle and defender Rachel Peroutky netted her first of the year on a laser beam from the left wing in the third period.
Farmington led 5-0 after two periods before Hastings got on the board twice in the final three and a half minutes, the last one coming on a penalty shot.
By that time, Tiger goalie Jessica Erchul had taken a well-deserved seat on the bench. Erchul, the third Tiger to receive all-tournament honors, allowed just two goals in three games, stopping 71 of 73 shots for a save percentage of .973.
All-Tournament goalie Jessica Erchul
25 saves
(all photos by Jim Lindquist)
The Tigers edged the Raiders 29-28 in shots on goals, a fact that didn't escape Holmes.
"Really the two teams were very equal," he said. "Hastings has a nice club. The only difference tonight was on the scoreboard."
The Tigers outscored the opposition 13-3 in the three-game tournament run and Holmes said he likes where his team is at this point in time. Fact is, it might be a little ahead of schedule.
"Winning this tournament was one of our pre-season goals," he said. "Now we want to win the conference and the section...Recordwise I was looking at being a game or two above.500 at this time, so at 9-5, I'm very pleased."
The Tigers resume play Tuesday, Jan. 4, when they entertain Missota Conference archrival Holy Angels at Schmitz-Maki Arena.
