Farmington girls are on the soccer rise

Farmington girls' soccer coach Rob Carpentier expected a breakout season from his squad this year in spite of its youth.

"I knew we had a talented team coming into the season," Carpentier said after the Tigers earned a share of their first Missota Conference title in school history.

Farmington finished in a three-way tie with Holy Angels and Shakopee in league play. They all finished 6-1 in the conference.

"The girls had one major goal, and that was to win the conference," Carpentier said. "We had never been able to get over the hump, but the girls made it happen this year."

Junior attacker Kelli Elmer is the Tigers' leading scorer, while sophomore Ashley Becker is one of the top goalkeepers in the state. Farmington finished the regular season with an overall record of 10-4-2.

"Most of our kids are juniors and sophomores," Carpentier said. "Next year should be the team to watch."

Milestone nightBelle Plaine senior outside hitter Haley Fogarty registered her 1,000th kill and 1,000th dig in a 25-17, 25-21, 25-13 victory over Jordan in a matchup of Minnesota River Conference powers. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in Class 2A.

"She is surprisingly powerful for her size [5-foot-9] as an attacker, and makes serve receive look effortless."

Strong performances• Farmington junior Kaitlyn O'Reilly took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.77 in the maroon division of the girls' swimming Maroon & Gold Invitational.

Lakeville South had three individual winners in the bronze division. They were senior Carrie Schrock (100 freestyle in 56.43) and freshmen Brianna Alexander (200 individual medley in 2:12.66) and Shea Bougie (100 backstroke in 1:01.52). Alexander and Bougie also were on two winning relay teams (200 medley and 400 freestyle).

• Shakopee senior quarterback Nick Larson ran for 205 yards on 35 carries and three touchdowns, leading the Sabers to a 32-29 football victory over Northfield in the Missota Conference. Larson also completed seven of nine passes for 70 yards.