Grace Gavin (No. 5), who assisted on the goal, celebrates.
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Prior to the start of Tuesday night's Missota Conference opener with Chaska/Channassen at Schmitz-Maki Arena, Tiger coach Jon Holmes offered that for his team to beat the Stormhawks it would have to hold them to no more than three goals.
When the visitors matched that total in the game's first 7:16 the writing was on the wall. Before the final horn sounded Farmington gave up five more scores in a hard-to-swallow 8-1 loss.
"In my years here we have never been beaten like that," Holmes said. "We came out and gave them a goal on their first shift and then it sort of snow-balled. I think we couldn't believe what was happening in the first period."
The Stormhawks led 4-0 after one period but the Tigers seemed to gain some momentum early in the second. Chloe Batta's goal (from Grace Gavin) at 5:17 of the second gave the home team some hope but a disputed penalty less than a minute later led to a Chaska/Chanhassen power play goal and from there on it was all Stormhawks all the time.
"I'm not saying we would have come all the way back but that power play goal seemed to suck the life out of us," Holmes said. "We as coaches and players have to get back and start doing things that take advantage of our strengths. We have some work to do."
The shot stats reflect the one-sided nature of the contest with the winners finishing with a 42-14 edge, including a 10-1 margin in the first period and a 17-4 bulge in the third.
Jess Erchul played the first two-and-a-half periods in goal and finished with a season-high 30 saves. Ashley Corcoran relieved her with seven-plus minutes remaining and stopped all four shots she faced.
Farmington (1-3) will try to re-group and come back strong after the holiday break. The Tigers resume play Tuesday, November, 29 with a non-conference game at Wayzata.
