FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Area Cardinals boys hockey team worked a solid first period and took a 2-1 lead against the Waseca Bluejays into the first break.

The Buejays, however, had other plans in mind. The visiting Bluejays used a three-goal second period to leave Martin County Arena with a 5-3 Big South Conference victory on Thursday night.

“Mental mistakes ate us up,” Cardinals head coach Kris Olson said. “We worked hard and had a hot goalie. It’s just the mental breakdowns again. It’s the Achilles heel with us.”

Junior forward Tony Nuss was the Cardinals’ driving force for the 2-0 early lead. Eighth-grade forward Hudson Artz connected with Nuss for a short-range score at the 12:51 mark of the opening frame.

Two minutes later, Nuss managed to get the puck to sophomore forward Carson Kuhl between two defenders. Carson Kuhl made good on the pass and flicked the puck past Bluejays junior goalie Jack Moseley.

“We swapped him (Nuss) and Chaffee, brought Nuss back up to forward and dropped Chaffee down to defense and it appears to be working in our favor for the moment,” Olson said. “Tony’s responded well with Artz and Kuhl.”

On the defensive end, Cardinals senior goalie Colby Kuhl rejected 11 Bluejays shots to a shutout through much of the first period. Peter Meyer finally got the Bluejays on the board after a breakaway play.

The Bluejays’ senior forward used a pass from junior defender Brandon Dahnert in their territory to make a mad dash up the ice and score with 3:07 left before the first intermission.

Despite being down, 2-1, the Bluejays outshot the Cardinals, 16-7, in the period and continued used it in their favor for the rest of the contest.

On the team’s first shot of the period, senior forward Jackson Preibe knotted up the game 26 seconds into the middle period. Jackson Priebe smacked in the game-tying goal in traffic with the assist from senior forward Brett Attenberger.

With 7:51 to go in the frame, the Bluejays were assessed a two-minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Despite being down a player, the Bluejays held the Cardinals scoreless.

At the exact time the penalty ended, junior defender Karson Legred rebounded senior forward Tom Havnen’s rejected shot to get the Cardinals back the lead.

The Bluejays, however, rattled off two more goals in the last five minutes to get a lead kept for the remained of the game.

Meyer poked away the puck from the Cardinals and passed to senior defender Simon Sommers for the 3-2 advantage at the 3:17 juncture.

Twenty seconds before the second intermission, sophomore forward Ben Priebe put the Bluejays up by two goals with a quick score. Senior forward Andrew Weller assisted on the play.

Just as Meyer began the Bluejays’ scoring, he finished it with a final power-play goal, rebounding junior defender Noah Berg’s shot at the 15:36 mark of the period.

During the latter stages of the game, the Cardinals found themselves in a 4-on-3 situation after both teams were assessed five-minute major penalties and the Cardinals given a two-minute minor.

“It’s an emotionally intense game,” Olson said. “It’s tough to corral sometimes.”

Colby Kuhl kept the Bluejays from scoring for the rest of the game, though, to record 48 saves on the night. Moseley made 11 saves on 14 shots faced.

Fairmont Area (2-19) plays at New Ulm in another conference contest at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

WAS 1-3-1–5

FA 2-1-0–3

SCORING PLAYS

1st Period

FA — Tony Nuss (Hudson Artz), 12:51.

FA — Carson Kuhl (Nuss), 10:41.

W — Peter Meyer (Brandon Dahnert), 3:07.

2nd Period

W — Jackson Priebe (Brett Attenberger), 16:34.

FA — Karson Legred (Tom Havnen), 5:51.

W — Simon Sommers (Meyer), 3:17.

W — Ben Priebe (Andrew Weller), 0:20.

3rd Period

W — Meyer (Noah Berg).

Shots on goal: Waseca 16-21-16–53; Fairmont Area 7-3-4–14.

Saves: Colby Kuhl (FA) 15-18-15–48; Jack Moseley (W) 5-2-4–11.

Penalties: Waseca 6 for 15 minutes; Fairmont Area 3 for 9 minutes.

Power-play chances: Waseca 1-for-3; Fairmont Area 0-for-6.

Minnesota River 9, Fairmont Area 1 — Ashley Pudwill and Keely Olness combined for five points in the Bulldogs’ eight-goal win over the Cardinals on Thursday night in LeSueur.

Pudwill posted both of her goals — one shorthanded — in the first period, while Olness netted goals in the first and second frames. Olness also teammed with Kylie Dunning for the double assist on Elle Davis’ third-period score.

Dunning finished with two assists and scored in the third period with the assist from Lucy Kleschult.

Emma Doherty-Bohn scored a goal and had an assist in the first period, while Whitney Weick netted a power-play goal and Kendall Wenner scored in the third for the Bulldogs. Elle Seaver doled out two assists, while Nicole McCabe had one in the win.

Mackenzie Householder scored the Cardinals’ goal with the assist from Emily Sokoloski in the second period.

Emily O’Connor made 26 saves in 35 shots faced for the Cardinals, which attempted 24 shots on goal.

Fairmont Area (2-21) plays at Waseca on Tuesday.

MR 4-1-4–9

FA 0-1-0–1

SCORING PLAYS

1st Period

MR — Ashley Pudwill (Emma Doherty-Bohn), shorthanded, 14:47.

MR — Pudwill (Elle Seaver), 9:32.

MR — Keely Olness (Seaver), 9:12.

MR — Doherty-Bohn (unassisted), 3:28.

2nd Period

MR — Olness (Kylie Dunning, Nicole McCabe), 4:45.

FA — Mackenzie Householder (Emily Sokoloski), 2:34.

3rd Period

MR — Duning (Lucy Kleschult), 16:40.

MR — Whitney Weick (unassisted), pp., 14:27.

MR — Elle Davis (Dunning, Olness), 7:11.

MR — Kendall Wenner (unassisted), 4:32.

Shots on goal: Minnesota River 19-7-9–35; Fairmont Area 5-13-6–24.

Saves: Emily O’Connor (FA) 15-6-5–26; Jordan Keely (MR) 5-12-2–19; Madison Kisor (MR) x-x-4–4.

Penalties: Minnesota River 4 for 8 minutes; Fairmont Area 3 for 6 minutes.

Power-play chances: Minnesota River 1-for-3; Fairmont Area 0-for-4.