Boys Hockey: Raiders steal one in OT

Tigers celebrate Devin Bernu's tying goal with 35 seconds to play (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Northfield's Nathan Scofield stole the puck in the Farmington zone and turned it into a game-winner with 2:10 remaining in overtime to carry the Raiders past the Tigers 5-4 Tuesday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The late goal spoiled a frenetic Farmington comeback that saw the home score three unanswered goals in the final 12 minutes of regulation to force the extra session.

"We had some breakdowns at the start and the end of periods that hurt us," Farmington coach Keith Revels said. "You have to come out ready to play every shift and we didn't at times, especially in the second period."

Each of the first four Raider goals came in either the first or last three minutes of a period. Three of them were scored in the first 2:13 of the second and third periods.

"The real bottom line is that we can't give up five goals and expect to win games." Revels said. "Goals have not always been easy for us to come by but up to tonight.we were only giving up 2.6 a game."

The Tigers got the better of the play in a scoreless first period but the visitors won the second period face-off and 25 seconds later Scofield had his first goal. Andrew Scofield found the net  61 seconds later to put the Tigers in a two-goal hole.

Jordan Lugwoksi scored the first Tiger goal (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Justin Novak hit a streaking Jordan Lugowski with a pass in the slot to cut the deficit to 2-1 a couple of minutes later but Northfield scored again in the final seconds of the period to go back up by two.

The deficit rose to 4-1 when Andrew Scofield netted his second goal 2:13 into the final frame but from there to the end of regulation it was all Farmington all of the time.

First Joe Siebenaler (from Alex Aubrecht and Kevin Olund) scored to make it 4-2. Then Novak (from Dallas Tucker) whistled a shot in the right corner from a tough angle from the left with 3:18 to play in regulation.

With a minute to go Revels pulled goalie Austin Krause for another attacker and the move produced dividends in the form of a goal from Devin Bernu (from Novak) with 35 seconds remaining.

Farmington outshot Northfield 16-3 in the third period and 42-27 for the game.

The Tigers got the better of scoring opportunities (4 to 2) in overtime but a defensive breakdown in their own zone set the stage for Scofield's final heroics.

"We didn't put a body on their guy when he came off the boards." veteran assistant coach Shawn Anderson said.

Justin Novak goal, 2 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Revels noted that not a single penalty was whistled in the contest, something that may not have necessarily benefited his team.

"There was a lot of clutching and grabbing going on," he said. "That slows the game down and negates our strength which is speed."

The Tiger coach said he was pleased by his team's ability to fight back from the three-goal deficit in the third period.

"I thought we did a great job of coming back the way we did," he said. "We just can't afford to get down like that. Right now we don't have that go-to guy on offense to carry us."

The loss dropped the Tigers to 10-10-1 overall and 4-6-1 in the conference. Thursday they resume league action with a road contest at Chanhassen. Saturday they match up with Bloomington Kennedy in a non-conference clash at the Bloomington Ice Gardens.

"Our goal in these final games is to come out them as a better team each night," Revels said.