“Their off-ball movement is just incredible. Their offense is high octane. It’s very hard to slow down,” Farmington head coach Steph LaVictoire said. “We went through three different defensive schemes and nothing seemed to really nag at them. We felt confident when we had the ball in our attack zone and we were kind of driving at their defense and we had a little success there. Once it was in our D-zone we were really on our heels.”

There are a number of spokes on the wheel for Lakeville South, which improved its record to 16-0. Senior attack/midfielder Emily Moes has stood out most amid a balanced attack. Her seven goals, including six in the first half, pushes her into the state lead with 68 on the season.

It’s unwise to devote all attention to Moes, who’s off to play at the University of California-Berkeley this fall.

She was one of three to finish with a hat trick on Tuesday as junior midfielder Sivanna O’Brien and senior attack Gabby Bouman each had four goals.

Seven Cougars have scored double-digit goals this season. Eight different players scored against Farmington.

“I think it really reflects our team as a whole and our ability to work together,” O’Brien said. “We really focus on the team aspect of it and not ourselves and our personal goals.”

Head coach Joel Tornell leads a core that’s played together for nearly a decade.

“They’re great kids. They’ve been playing together for a long time. A lot of them have been playing since third and fourth grade,” Tornell said. “I think they’ve really jelled as a team and it makes it easy to coach. They like coming to practice. They like coming to games and having fun with each other.”

Lakeville South, ranked No. 1 in the final state coaches poll, has beaten every team by six or more goals this season, with exception of a 14-13 win vs. No. 2 Prior Lake in a state title game rematch.

The Cougars got to the 20-goal mark for the ninth time this season. Moes is the team’s assist leader with 41 and eclipsed the century mark in points this season in the team’s semifinal win against Owatonna.

They led 15-3 at halftime before taking their foot off the gas. It was 1-1 in the opening minutes before South took charge, winning nearly every draw.

“It’s always a border battle when we play South in any sport. Rivalries,” Farmington senior midfielder/defender Madison Kadrlik said. “It’s always a good matchup to play them. They’re a really good team. We came in here confident, but we knew we had a challenge in front of us to take on.”

Madison Kadrlik and twin, attack/midfielder MaKenna, are the team’s lone seniors. They led the team to a 9-7 record in 2023.

“We really lean on our seniors. Madison has been playing through an injury all season. So super gritty, played any position that we needed her to,” LaVictoire said. “MaKenna hit 100 [career] points this year, which we thought was really impressive, especially with that Covid year, having that taken away. She’s always the quarterback of our offense. We’re really going to miss that.”

While Farmington dipped from a 12-4 record in 2022, both teams reached the section title game and could have done more damage if not for being grouped with a state powerhouse.

The Tigers found their stride late in the season, winning five straight leading into Tuesday.

“We graduated a lot of seniors last year, so our team is pretty young,” Madison Kadrlik said, “which brings a lot of spark to the season. We started off a little rough just because we had a whole new roster, but I think toward the end of the season we got the hang of it and got like a click and the pieces came together.”

MaKenna concurred, saying “everything just clicked.”

Lakeville South was the first team out of eight to qualify for the state tournament with remaining section title games concluding Wednesday and Thursday.

For a team with lofty expectations like the Cougars, things have only just begun.

“We’re just getting ready to go. We’re ready for the next one now,” Tornell said. “We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re moving on to the next one.”