(photo by Jim Lindquist)
During the regular season the Tigers arguably put together their best effort of the year in a thrilling 1-0 win over Northfield.
In Thursday night's rematch in the Section 1AA quarterfinals in Northfield, the Raiders got their revenge in a 5-1 victory.
Farmington created the first scoring chance of the night but it was Northfield that dented the scoreboard first in the tenth minute of the opening half. The Raiders went on to add three more scores before intermission to build a commanding lead.
"They scored a number of their goals off second shots and by crashing the net," Tiger coach Julian Buss said. "Several times they found a way to outnumber us at the net...We certainly played aggressively enough. We got three yellow cards in the game."
Buss moved sweeper Sam Leske to midfield in the second half to try and generate more offense and it did provide the only Tiger goal of the night with 16:07 to play. But the tally was too little, too late as by then the Raiders had upped their cushion to 5-0.
Buss said his team's inability to finish, especially early, was the difference in the contest.
"Had we been able to get some of our first opportunities past their keeper, I think it could have been a different outcome," he said.
The loss closed the books on a season that saw the Tigers finish 8-7-2, including a 4-2-1 run in the Missota Conference.
The game was the last in orange and black for seven Farmington senior regulars--Leske, Mike Ricker, Tyler Vue, Alec Hogstad, Brandon Scott, Cole Landwehr and Chad Stivers. Buss said their presence will be missed when practice rolls around next fall.
"This group deserves a lot of the credit for how far boys soccer has come in Farmington," he said. "They are a testament to how important it is to start playing at an early age and then sticking with it. I wish them all the best."
