A bouncing puck shot by a Faribault eighth-grader proved to be the difference in a 2-1 victory over Owatonna at the Falcons Nest on Saturday night.

It was the final game of the regular season for the Big Nine and should secure a No. 3 seed for Faribault in the section tournament, which starts Wednesday.

Seedings are Sunday.

With the win, Faribault finished two points ahead of Owatonna in the Big Nine Conference standings.

The Falcons scored :16 seconds into the game. I thought Madison Beaupre scored on a hard shot from the blue line but evidently Megan Johnstad (10) right in front of the net got a piece of the puck to poke it in and Faribault was up 1-0. Beaupre (10) and Allyson McCoshen (13) picked up assists on the goal.

Faribault was shut out when they played in Owatonna earlier this year, and that goal was probably a confidence booster.

Owatonna scored their only goal of the game at the 9:01 mark of the first period. Jamie Davison (8) scored off the rebound of a shot taken by Margo Achterkirch, who got her 17th assist of the year.

Falcon senior goalie Lauren Werner made two point-blank pad saves and, on the second one, the puck went to her left and Davison was able to poke it in.

Owatonna had 17 shots on goal in the first period and Faribault seven.

Owatonna dominated the scoreless second period with 14 shots to Faribault's four.

But steady in net was Werner and Faribault found a way to contain Owatonna's outstanding goal scorer, Jessica VonRuden.

The senior had 36 goals and 12 assists going into the game and was held scoreless.

Falcon eighth-grader Olivia Moreland got the game winner 3:33 into the third period when she smacked the puck just below the blue line on the glove side of Owatonna sophomore goalie Laura Ebeling. The puck bounced over to her stick side and went right into the net.

It was Moreland's second goal of the season and an assist was credited to fellow eighth-grader Olivia Williamson (11) who passed her the puck just before the shot.

Faribault did a better job of controlling the puck in the third period with shots being 8 to 7 in favor of Owatonna.

The shots on goal total was Owatonna 39 and Faribault 18.

Neither team could score on the power play, with Faribault whistled for four penalties and Owatonna five.

Werner picked up her 14th win of the season and her 38 saves seem to be the norm.

She was one of our Faribault State Farm insurance agents Faribault players of the game along with Moreland, Johnstad and Williamson, courtesy of Faribault State Farm agents Jason Krohn and Tony Langerud.

It was senior night and a great way for Werner, Johnstad, Beaupre and Shea McDonough to end their regular season careers on their home ice.

The Falcons end their regular season 17-6-2 overall and 15-4 in the conference.

Faribault is one of four teams in the Big Nine this season to play 19 conference games.

The others were Winona, Rochester Century and Austin.

Rochester John Marshall, Northfield and Red Wing tied for the Big Nine title with 36 points each. John Marshall's record was 15-2, Northfield 12-3 and Red Wing 9-3.

Rochester Mayo played 18 conference games. Mankato East and John Marshall played 17 Big Nine games. Owatonna, Mankato West and Albert Lea had 16 conference contests. Northfield played 15 and Red Wing 12 Big Nine games.

Faribault led the Big Nine for much of the season and finished with more wins in the conference than anybody but John Marshall.

They swept John Marshall and don't get rewarded for it because they lost two four-point games (against Northfield and Red Wing).

Please explain to me how it's fair for some teams to play 19 games and some 12 in the same conference.

If I were commissioner of the Big Nine, either every team would play each other twice or every team would play each other once so there would be the same number of games for each team.

There would be all two-point games. There should not be a four-point game just because a team does not want to play another team twice. Even if the feeling is mutual. If you don't want to play a team twice then you forfeit the second game and the other team gets the points. Or you play every team once in the conference and fill in the rest of your schedule (over half your games) with other opponents.

Please, Big Nine, make the conference title chase make sense. A team that wins six more games in the conference than another team should not be behind them in the standings. I don't care what they did head to head.

I would love to hear from Big Nine hockey fans. Does this scoring system for the conference standings make any sense?

Faribault Falcon Girls Hockey Seniors
Faribault Falcon Girls Hockey Seniors
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