accept Section 1AA second place trophy
(photos by Jim Lindquist)
Chloe Batta, (No. 7), Alexander (No. 15) and Baumann battle for the puck as
South goalie Chelsea Laden makes the save
Farmington made the first statement but Lakeville South had the final word in a 6-2 win over the Tigers in the Section 1AA championship game played Friday night, Feb, 18, at Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna.
The loss closed the books on the 2010-11 season for Farmington who finished 20-7 and won its second straight Missota Conference title. South (23-2-2), the South Suburban Conference champion, advanced to the Class AA state tournament in St. Paul.
"After the first period they beat us at the little things," Tiger coach Jon Holmes said. "They won the races to the puck and did a good job of transitioning from defense to offense. Those things we had been doing well for the last 15 games but they (South) did them better tonight. They have a very good hockey team."
Farmington got on the board first on Krystal Baumann's 55th goal of the season midway through the opening period. Baumann, who Holmes said was playing at about half capacity after suffering a knee sprain in Tuesday's semifinal win over Lakeville North, beat South goalie Chelsea Laden from close range to give the locals their only lead of the night.
South responded almost immediately, knotting the score on Morgan-Fritz-Ward's power play goal two minutes later. Though the teams were tied heading to the first break, the Tigers played catch-up the rest of the night.
"I think we got caught up with our emotions a little," Holmes said. "We maybe got a little too high after we scored first and then a little too low after they tied it up. We had trouble finding that even keel."
The Cougars outshot the Tigers 13-3 and scored twice in a penalty-filled second period that seemed like one long march to the penalty box. The Tigers picked up five infractions and the Cougars four in the 17-minute stretch.
At one point, the officials had to stop play and review the official book to sort out who actually belonged in the box.
Fritz-Ward and Farmington forward Haleigh Zwart exchanged goals in the third period before South put the contest out of reach with two scores in the final four minutes.
South outshot Farmington 28-19 in the game, but 22-13 over the decisive final two periods.
Tiger goalie Jessica Erchul, the hero of Tuesday night's classic win over North, finished with 22 saves, including a handful on breakaways.
"We had four goals at the start of the season," Holmes said. "We wanted to win our conference, win our holiday tournament, get to the section finals and, of course, get to back to the state tournament.
"We accomplished three of the four and we won 20 games while doing it. We had a very successful season."
The Tigers had plenty of support at the championship game with the pep band and a large crowd of students in attendance
(photos by Jim Lindquist)
