Boys Hockey: Tigers, Overby blank Chaska 4-0

Gage Overby leads Missota Conference in save percentage (.918)

Gage Overby recorded his first career shutout and Farmington evened its season record at 7-7-1 with a 4-0 Missota Conference win over Chaska Tuesday night at the Chaska Community Center.

Four different players netted goals and Overby turned away 30 shots as the Tigers won their second straight conference game, boosting their league record to 2-3-1.

"The bus ride home is always a bit faster after a win," Tiger coach Keith Revels said. "I do believe we have hit our stride a bit but we still have much work to do on our end.

"The only game we have not been in would be our first one back in November against Hastings... When we convert well offensively and play disciplined in the defensive zone we can give opponents trouble."


The Tigers roared to a quick start, outshooting the Hawks 8-3 in the opening period, with Tanner Grubb's seventh goal of the season (from Kevin Olund and John Siebenaler) giving them a 1-0 lead heading to the first intermission.


Jack Erickson's second period goal on an assist from Dallas Tucker stretched the lead to 2-0 after two frames and then Overby and some efficient offense took over in the third.


Chaska outshot its guests 13-3 over the final 17 minutes but could not get the puck by Overby.

Farmington, meanwhile, connected on two of its three scoring opportunities with Tucker (from Erickson and Justin Novak) and Brandon Lugowksi (from Corey Rudrud) each netting goals to pad the lead.


Revels had some words of praise for the play of Overby who took over the conference lead in save percentage (.918) with the shutout.

"Gage has stepped in and done a very nice job for us," he said. "As Chaska elevated its game late on its home ice, he was able to stay cool, calm and collected...

"He does a nice job controlling rebounds. They either get turned away to the corner out of harm's way or frozen for a face-off."


Revels also said the win was a testament to his team's depth as several regulars missed game time due to injury or illness.


"We got some quality minutes from a lot of players stepping up and filling roles which is what you need to be competitive in January and February," he said. "These things happen during the course of a game and a season and you need guys to be ready and willing to fill in at a moment's notice."

The Tigers will be looking to make it three straight Friday when they wrap up the opening round of conference play with a match-up with Shakopee at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Girls BB: No. 6 Trojans down Tigers 57-41

Alicia Hett 10 points (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers stayed with sixth-rated New Prague until midway through the second half when the Trojans pulled away for a 57-41 victory Tuesday night in New Prague.The loss was Farmington's third straight to a top-10 rated team.

With the win the Trojans moved to 10-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Tigers are 2-14 and 0-5.

"The girls played very well tonight," Tiger coach Sondra Chadwick said. "Foul trouble was the difference in this game. We had two starters on the bench early."

New Prague went to the free throw line 26 times in the contest, making 19 while the Tigers finished with just six in 11 tries.

Thanks to 10 points from Alicia Hett and a strong floor game from Sofia Chadwick in breaking New Prague's press, the visitors were within eight points at intermission at 29-21.

Farmington cut its deficit to six early in the second period before the Trojans began to take advantage of their superior size.

Coach Chadwick said there were a couple of major silver linings in her team's loss.

"We handled their full-court pressure without issue," she said. "We shot the best we have all season, making 20 of 41 from the field, and we played great defense, holding their leading scorer without a field goal.

"What hurt was something that has been hurting us all season. Their post player scored 25 points....But I was proud of the girls for how hard they worked out there and for the tenacity in which they played defense."

Hett finished atop the Tiger scoring charts with her 10 first half points. Chadwick had eight points, six assists and three steals and was responsible for holding The Trojans' Annie Dittberner (14 points a game) without a field goal.

Sydney Speer had eight points and Abby Gallus added seven despite spending a lot of time on the bench with foul trouble. Kaitlin Gorden pulled down eight rebounds and Aly Grebner provided a park off the bench in both halves.

The Tigers get a reprieve from state-ranked opposition Friday night when they travel to Richfield for a Missota Conference game with Holy Angels.

 

Girls Hockey: Tigers forge 1-1 tie with Irondale

Molly Singewald 29 saves (photo by Jim Lindquist)

It wasn't a win but the Tigers put together a strong effort in a 1-1 non-conference tie with Irondale Tuesday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The deadlock was the second of the season for Farmington (2-15-2). The Knights are 12-7-1.

Breanna Raske gave the Tigers an early lead with her first goal of the season midway through the first period on an assist from Madeline Oines.

The slim lead lasted until the final seconds of the period when the Knights' Lindsey Kueng answered with a power score to tie the score heading into the first break.

"That must be the sixth or seventh time we have been scored on in the final minute of a period this year," Tiger coach Jon Holmes said. "Those are too big of back-breakers to give up."

Breanna Raske scored 1st goal of the season

The remainder of the contest saw both teams have their opportunities but Tiger goalie Molly Singewald and Irondale netminder Anna Pate were flawless in the nets.

"We did indeed have many chances," Holmes said, "including a few rejections from the posts."

While the game didn't go into the win column, Holmes said eighth-grader Singewald and the defense supplied some good highlight reel material.

"Molly has really played solid in her last four outings," he said. "We have only given up six goals in those games and  she has manged to get her yearly saves percentage above 90... Both she and Maddie (Bowe) are really getting stronger and more knowledgeable every time out."

Singewald faced 30 shots and turned back 29. The Knights outshot the Tigers by a 30-22 count.

Farmington returns to Missota Conference action Thursday with a road game at Shakopee and then finishes off its busy three-game week Saturday with a non-conference encounter with Simley at Veteran's Arena in Inver Grove Heights.

Boys BB: Trojans hand Tigers first Missota loss

Darren Beenken 11 points, 8 rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington's bid to beat a state-rated team for a third time this season came up short in a 62-58 Missota Conference loss to New Prague Tuesday night at Tiger Gym.

The defeat was the first in three league games for the Tigers. New Prague evened its early conference mark at 1-1.

Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said his team did some good things in its conference home debut but in the end didn't get the job done on the glass.

"Rebounding is always important," Wyandt said, "but in this game against this team it was even more so.

"I think we lost our composure at times and got a little rattled. That led to poor positioning, lack of concentration and a lot of second chances for them (New Prague).

Darren Beenken (11 points), Zach Speikers (8) and Eli Rockett (7) accounted for all but three of the Farmington points in the opening half as the Tigers hit the break with a 29-23 lead.

But the lead could have been much bigger had the home team shot the ball with any type of consistency (35 percent) or converted at the foul line (4 of 10).

"Defensively we had a good half but we couldn't make a shot," Wyandt said. "We had a lot of looks from three but most of them didn't come out of our offense. When they come from inside out we shoot the ball a lot better."

New Prague shot only 31 percent in the opening half but started the second period making six of its first seven shots to set up nail-biter of a finish.

The Trojans took their fist lead at the 13:10 mark before the Tigers wrestled back the lead on the shooting of Johnny Dittman and Alex Chadwick at 53-51 with six minutes remaining.

New Prague held its biggest lead at 58-53 when it converted four straight free throws when Rockett picked up his fourth foul and then drew a technical foul to finish his night's work.

A drive by Nick Varner and a triple by Speikers with 2:10 left tied the score at 58's but that would be Farmington's last point of the night. Speikers' three-point try from the left wing for the tie bounced off the rim with 4.4 seconds to play.

"We missed a couple of bunnies toward the end," Wyandt said, "and that hurt us, but like I said rebounding was the big difference."

Farmington finished the night shooting a tepid 35 percent from the floor and an anemic nine for 19 from the foul line (47 percent).

Speikers scored six points in the second half and finished with 14 to lead Farmington scorers. Beenken had 11 and Rockett 10.

Beenken added a team-high eight rebounds and three assists to his ledger. Varner pulled down seven rebounds and Dittman and Mac Bassett each had three assists.

It's out of the frying pan and into the fire Friday when Holy Angels pays a visit to Tiger Gym. The Stars, another rated Class 3A team (No. 4), are 2-0 in conference play after a 75-70 win over Red Wing Tuesday night.

"It's a cliche," Wyandt said, "but every game in the Missota this year is going to be tough. That's why it is so important we win on our home floor."

Tiger Scoreboard: January 16, 2013

Boys Hockey
Farmington 4 Chaska 0

Girls Hockey
Farmington 1 Irondale 1 (OT)

Boys Basketball
New Prague 62 Farmington 58

Girls Basketball
New Prague 57 Farmington 41

Gymnastics
New Prague 144.7  Farmington 134.55