Betsy Anderson scores the 1st Tiger goal (upper right corner)
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
Haley Doll scored the game-winner in the second period and Farmington picked up their first conference victory of the season, 2-1, over Shakopee Friday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.
The Tigers (3-7-0) received 25 saves from Jessica Erchul in the win.
Betsy Anderson opened the scoring in the first at 12:35. Chloe Batta picked up the lone assist on the goal. For Anderson, it was her first goal since moving from defense to forward.
“Her goal helped her get acclimated,” head coach Jon Holmes said of Anderson. “The rest of the defensive corps stepped up to the plate with her migration to forward and we played tough in the [defensive] zone again.”
Farmington pushed the lead to 2-0 on the eventual game-winner by Doll at 8:03 of the second period. Haleigh Zwart and Grace Gavin earned assists.
The Sabers (2-9-1) cut the deficit in half at 13:45 of the second on a power play goal from Nicole Vogel. Amy Menke was credited with the only assist.
The game was the first since Dec. 8 for the Tigers and Holmes said the extra practice time between games helped in several different areas.
“The girls worked hard all week at the new concepts and we did a nice job of implementing them,” Holmes said. “We also made a couple changes in our lines trying to make us more solid in attempts to play 3 lines all game to give us an advantage in terms of having fresh legs throughout the game.”
One change that it’s clear won’t take place is between the pipes. Erchul, despite having just three wins, holds one of the top save percentages in the entire state.
“She had a couple monster saves on breakaways versus their top scorer [Menke], who is a top metro player to watch," Holmes said.
Farmington will have almost a week off before returning to action Thursday, Dec. 22 when they host Owatonna at Schmitz-Maki Arena. Puck drops at 6:00 p.m.
