Girls Hockey: Upset City

Megan Stivers scored the game-winner in overtime (photo by Jim Lindquist)

When Rochester John Marshall paid a visit to Schmitz-Maki Arena on Nov. 19, the Rockets skated to a 5-2 win and clearly got the better of the play.

Fast forward to Farmington's exciting 2-1 overtime victory over the same team in the Section 1AA quarterfinals in Rochester Wednesday night to get a crystal clear picture of how far coach Jon Holmes' squad has come in three months.

"After a solid first period I think we rattled their cage a little, Holmes said, "and we all knew we were in for a good game. It was a well-earned win. We played three solid periods."

John Marshall (21-4) entered the contest riding the crest of a 14-game winning streak  The Rockets last loss occurred Dec. 10 in a 6-2 loss to Dodge County.

Megan Stivers' goal (from Michaela Tonsager and Maddi Oines) 3:05 into sudden death overtime gave the sixth-seeded Tigers the upset win over third-seeded John Marshall.

The contest was close throughout with neither team able to get on the scoreboard until the final period.

The Rockets struck first on a power play opportunity just 18 seconds into the third but the Tigers' Dani Wright (from Oines) countered with a power play goal at the other end to set up Stivers' overtime heroics.

Dani Wright's first goal of the season tied the score at 1-1 (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Wright's goal, a slap shot from the point, was her first of the season and couldn't have come at a better time.

"Dani has been getting lots of chances and opportunities this entire year," Holmes said, "but she just couldn’t find that twine until tonight."

The game-winner came from the Tonsager-Oines-Stivers trio with Stivers jamming in a rebound from close range. 

The other key ingredients in the upset win were Farmington's solid defensive play and the net work of goaltender Molly Singewald who stopped 28 of 29 shots sent her direction. 

"The defense did a phenomenal job keeping pucks outside of the slot and not only winning races but also winning battles in our own zone," Holmes said.  

"This limited the point blank shots but even when those came, Molly did a wonderful job cutting down the angles and controlling the rebounds and limit second chance opportunities. This has been a solid component of our game for the entire year and often we forget that winning games comes from the defensive zone out."

The win vaulted Farmington (12-12-1) into Saturday's semifinals where they will face third-seeded Dodge County (20-5) at Four Seasons Arena in Kasson. Dodge County beat Owatonna 7-1 in its first round game and has won its last 11 games. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m

Molly Singewald's 28 stops helped preserve the win (photo by Jim Lindquist)

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