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| Shelby Klotz scored the first Tiger goal (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The second-seeded Wildcats (22-5) scored two goals in the first period, the first on the game's opening possession, and four more in the second to take a commanding 6-2 lead heading into the final 17 minutes.
Dodge County outshot its guests by a decisive 37-12 over the first two frames and 47-18 for the night..
"We knew we would have to play the best D-Zone we had played all year to give ourselves a shot," Tiger coach Jon Holmes said. "but unfortunately they came out and capitalized on a mistake right away. We were outshot 10-0 the first four minutes before we got our nerves back."
The Wildcats led 4-0 before the Tigers got on the board in the second period when Shelby Klotz scored on an assist from Ellie Moser.
The winners made it 6-1 before Farmington's Dani Wright scored her second goal of the post-season early in the final frame with an assist from Brooke Raske.
Even though the winners scored twice more in the third period, Holmes said his team played hard until the final horn.
"We never packed it in," he said. "We took it to them in their end, then gave up a couple break-a-way goals by being overly aggressive.
"We also spent our fair share of time in the penalty box (5 minutes for 10 minutes) and we really diminish our chances of beating good teams when we are short a player on the ice."
Farmington goaltender Molly Singewald had a frenetic night in the nets, facing 47 shots and finishing with 39 saves.
"We
did do a nice job keeping them away from the net," Holmes said, "but it just seemed that every
opportunity they had, they cashed in. Either that was very fortuitous or they are just that good. Often you create our own luck by going hard to the
net."
The loss left the Tigers with a final season mark of 12-13-2, including a solid 10-5-1 mark after the Christmas break.
