(photo by Jim Lindquist)
By any measure, the Farmington girls hockey season was a roaring success. From tournament titles to conference crowns to section all-academic awards and individual honors. The 2010-11 campaign had a little of everything.
The Tigers finished the season with an overall record of 20-7 and cruised to a perfect 12-0 mark to win their second straight Missota Conference crown. They also won the talent-rich Louie Schmitz Holiday Classic and reached the finals of the Section 1AA tournament.
"It was tough to lose in the game to go to the big show," coach Jon Holmes said, "but we had a great season. We met all of our pre-season goals except getting to the state tournament."
All 20 players on the varsity roster received letters at the team's post-season banquet, including the team's only three seniors: Krystal Baumann, Hannah Alexander and Emily Severson.
Underclassmen receiving letters included juniors Molly Friedlund, Katie Burgess, Betsy Anderson and Jessica Erchul; sophomores Grace Gavin, Rachel Peroutky, Sydney Schoenecker and Haleigh Zwart; freshmen Shaye Jenrich, Haley Doll, Bria Donnelly, Brenna Raske, Rachel Welzin and Maddie Strid and eighth-graders Chloe Batta, Emily Johnson and Ashley Corcoran.
Holmes also paid tribute to his junior varsity team that posted 15 wins this season.
"That team has been together for thee years now," he said, "and they have made big strides in becoming a cohesive unit. Three years ago they won eight games and last year they won 14. It has been fun to watch them grow both on and off the ice."
Four Tigers made the prestigious all-Missota Conference team: Baumann, Alexander, Erchul and Anderson. Severson and Peroutky garnered all-league honorable mention.
Baumann, a University of Vermont recruit, finished the season with a team-high 54 goals and leaves the program ranked in the top 10 in five career categories: goals-97 (2nd); points-260 (3rd); games played-154 (5th); assists-92 (8th) and plus-minus-173 (10th).
Alexander also leaves behind some impressive numbers, ranking among the top 10 all-time leaders in assists with 94 (7th); points with 191 (8th) and goals scored with 97 (8th).
Erchul had another big year in the nets with a 2.22 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in 24 regular season games. Anderson scored 21 points and headed a strong blue line corps that gave up fewer than 2.5 goals an outing.
Peroutky was another solid defender who finished the regular season with 22 points. Severson finished her varsity career with 26 goals and 22 assists and was the team's recipient of the Hobey Baker Award for leadership, community service and citizenship.
With the loss of Baumann, Alexander and Severson, Holmes said next year's edition of Tiger girls hockey will look a little different.
"We will need all of our players to commit to becoming better in the off-season," he said. "Our conference and section are only getting better and with three-fourths of our goal scoring gone in Krystal and Hannah we need to find players who will put the puck away.
"This is not an uncommon task for hockey teams, however. We are more than capable of getting back to and winning the section final next year, but it will have to be done through a complete team effort."
Holmes added the three graduating seniors represent a symbolic changing of the guard in Farmington girls hockey.
"They are the last of the generation that were part of Farmington teams that played in both Class A and AA," he said. "They each brought their own unique leadership qualities to the rink every day. We will miss their witty comments, big smiles, mischievous laughter and outstanding play."
