"This is probably the freshest group, in terms of newbies coming in," says Farmington girls' hockey coach Jon Holmes, who's been doing this for 15 years, "Lots of new people to do different things. It's exciting." Yet even with a youthful roster, he feels that the Tigers are "going to be one of those top teams in playoff season that no one's going to want to play."

The team graduated six seniors off an 11-15 squad, led by Sam Moehle who had 26 goals and 20 assists. But the club brings back several scorers who were right behind her. "We should be able to supply from within," says Holmes. "It won't be necessarily one person doing all of it. We'll have to get everyone to come in by committee."
               
Senior captain Madison Kadrlik (5 goals, 21 assists in 2021-22) says, "I think we have a lot of speed, and we have good stick skills all around. I know we're a young team, but I think we'll get the team chemistry as we go on."
               
Junior captain Morgan Mitchell (3G, 3A) adds, "The other three [senior captains] do a great job as being the head leaders. I'm there for support. Each of us have a separate role. One of us is going to be hard one day. One is going to be nice…I hope to be the one that the girls can come to if they need anything."

"We are a young team and I feel like all the young girls coming up have skill, which is great for the future, and I feel like we're just to keep getting stronger and stronger." Mitchell accepts that changes happen to the roster, "We can tell that those [seniors] are missing. It's just different every year."

Holmes is looking forward to the challenge, "It's fun as a coach because it changes up your mindset. Might run some different schemes. Might look at a different type of [defensive] zone. Might try to spread things out a little bit more to give different types of people access to the puck."

"We are young, very young. Just a handful of seniors, handful of juniors, and then a ton of seventh, eighth, ninth graders that are all going to see a significant amount of time. So, the excitement is more on the idea of where can we go and where are we going to end up. I'm not too worried about how fast we get there."

Makenna Kadrlik (12G, 28A) is a senior captain and likes the team's chemistry, "We're all super close. We are definitely all interested, and we want to be a team. Everyone wants to be here and wants to put in the effort for everyone else. It's fun to be here." She feels the team is ready to support each other, "Even if we're having a bad day, you've just got to pick your teammates up."

Holmes purposely backloaded the schedule and the Tigers play just three games in November. The opener is Saturday, November 19 at Apple Valley. "We do have a couple games on the front end that are going to be tough. We play Minnetonka right away and we play Eden Prairie in December. So those games will be good challenges for us right away."

The home opener comes Tuesday, November 22 versus Lakeville South, who Madison Kadrlik said is one of the Tigers' top rivals. Mitchell loves the energy of game day, "The rush. Home games especially when there's a student section. That original walk out onto the ice is just something special." All agreed the band's presence is a powerful addition.

Hill-Murray is also on the pre-Christmas schedule. The Tigers will host the 18^th annual Louis Schmitz Holiday Classic December 27 through 29.

Senior Abby Gehrke (15G, 18A) was looking forward to the annual mid-November trip to scrimmage in Hibbing, "Getting to know the girls that are first year on the team. Getting everyone doing fun stuff. We do curling every year and different fun bonding stuff like that, stay overnight."

As a captain, she looks "to make everyone really feel included in the team." Time will tell what memories stick with these young players down the road. For Gehrke, there's an infamous appearance on the ice at the Xcel Energy Center, "at the state tournament my eighth-grade year, falling in front of the entire student section," she confesses with a slight laugh.
               
Holmes knows there will be mistakes, "Fail forward," he says. "We don't expect them to come out and play perfect. We want them to go out there, try things we're asking them to do in practice. Do them in the games. If they fall down and they mess up, we want them to stand up and say…I'm still going to work hard" to be better next time.
               
The Kadrlik's are twins who both play hockey and lacrosse and will continue to do so after high school at Wisconsin-River Falls. Madison says they are, "Basically the same person…We tried out as forwards our eighth-grade year and I got switched to defense." Makenna says the plan to take the same path after high school came naturally, "I feel like it was mutual. We definitely talked a lot about it. We didn't want to separate. We knew that for sure." Both plan to study Exercise Science.
               
Makenna Kadrlik is a big believer in the Tiger Tone, "We're told to put it out there, teach it to the youth teams…discipline, professional, humble, relentless, and leaders." The words are on the wall at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

Holmes expects to be chasing Lakeville North this winter. The Tigers get their first look at the Panthers Saturday, December 3 at Ames Arena. Madison Kadrlik likes the variety of the schedule, "It's definitely a challenge in the South Suburban, but we do have a lot of range," while considering the non-conference opponents. Northfield won the Section 1AA crown last season.

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