Farmington Advances in Hockey Pre-Regional with Shutout

LIVONIA – The Falcons were eager to hit the ice Wednesday evening as they took on the Livonia Franklin Patriots at the Eddie Edgar Arena in Livonia in the second round of pre-regional state tournament play.

Farmington, coming off a bye in the first round, blanked the Patriots, 8-0, advancing to Saturday’s pre-regional championship game against Wyandotte, which beat Southgate, 4-1.

After Farmington’s seventh goal, Franklin pulled goalie Matt Flinder, but the Falcons weren’t done. Farmington's Max Saranen scored on replacement goalie Travis Ferrier to make it 8-0 in the second period. The game was over after the second period because of the mercy rule.

“We were excited to get started in the playoffs,” Farmington assistant coach Bill Newton said. “We’ve had a great run all year, and our kids were really revved up to play, to get started in the state tournament. We're happy with the way our kids kind of took a business-like approach to it, because it’s going to get a lot harder as we move on.”

Falcons' goalie Tim Rogers made the shutout look easy, though his teammates did hold Franklin to only seven shots.

“They play very good defense,” Rogers said of his teammates. “They only allowed seven shots. Technically speaking, I could have let in every shot and we still would have won, so I’m very happy with their play. We came out and knew we had to play our game and that’s what we did. We executed very well, and the results showed.”

The Falcons looked like a team on a mission; winning the races to the corners, forcing turnovers and getting the puck on the net as often as they could. They were determined to win and advance.

“We knew we were going to have to come out and play hard against them,” Farmington captain Alex Schmitt said. “We knew they wanted to put up a fight against us and maybe even knock us off, but we came here ready to go. We went out there and performed like we normally do.”

Schmitt had two goals as Farmington’s win came easy, but wasn’t expected by anyone.

“You never really go into a game and think that’s what is going to happen, but we’re 22-3-1 so we know we can score goals,” Newton said. “We’ve got a good offense and our power play has been really good the last couple of weeks.”

The win was not something they expected, but Rogers also knows his team’s potential.

“It was a surprise,” he said. “I think we came out knowing we’d beat them with how much preparation we put into this game, but I don’t think any of us expected the results that we put out there tonight."

Along with two goals by Schmitt, Nick Elliott put in two back-to-back goals for the Falcons. Mike Manzo, Ethan Baker, Austin Cole and Max Saranen all had goals in Farmington’s big win.

Correction: Farmington's Max Saranen scored on replacement goalie Travis Ferrier to make it 8-0 in the second period.