FAIRMONT — St. Peter executed a perfectly-designed play to squeeze out a season-opening victory over Fairmont Area in a battle of shutdown sophomore goalkeepers.

Junior midfielder Maddie More converted senior midfielder Amelia Carlson’s precision crossing pass into a 1-0 Saints’ margin only 2:08 into the Big South Conference soccer clash of titans Thursday night at Kot Soccer Complex.

More’s goal proved the difference as St. Peter netminder Katie Gurrola and Fairmont Area goalie Cadence Becker each recorded 10 saves to produce shutouts for the final 77:52 of regulation in Fairmont.

“That was an unstoppable goal — no doubt about it,” said Fairmont Area head coach Matt Nielsen. “St. Peter did a great job of setting up the play and executed it to a tee.”

Carlson outraced the Cardinals’ defensive secondary to a long outlet kick and drove the right wing before filtering a long crossing pass to a hustling More near the far left post. More chipped the assist into the webbing for the game’s only goal.

After being outshot by a 6-3 first-half margin, Fairmont Area stormed onto its home turf and unleashed four shots on goal to just one by St. Peter during the initial 10 minutes of the second half.

“We came out better in the second half,” said Nielsen. “I thought both the Schultzes (Emma and Ellie) made a difference in the middle for us and definitely had an impact on the increased offensive pressure.

“We needed a paint bucket after hammering a couple of our second-half shots off the cross-bar.”

Cardinals’ mdfielder Brooklyn Meyer delivered the initial pealing sound of the final 40 minutes by delivering a hard-working right-wing rush before rattling her shot off the upper right part of the pipe inside the first 55 seconds.

Fairmont Area striker Rayah Quiring then nicked the cross-bar with her kick from the right doorstep as Gurrola leaped to corral the rising liner less than a minute later into the second half.

St. Peter’s midfielders and defensive backline managed to double-team and keep Fairmont Area striker Joni Becker and midfielder Lexi Kaufman from getting either any space to shoot or open looks at the net.

The Saints’ Emma Jones kept the Cardinals on their heels in the first half, generating half of the visitors’ six shots on goal, including one off the crossbar at the 25-minute juncture.

The sure-handed Becker tipped Jones’ initial rush off the post before displaying a full-extension deflection only 4 minutes later in the opening segment.

Gurrola also displayed her mettle en route to the shutout by stonewalling Fairmont Area by gloving Kaufman’s laser from the top of the box at the 16-minute mark of the first half.

Fairmont Area (0-1, 0-1 BSC) travels to New Ulm on Monday for a 6:45 p.m. league clash, while St. Peter (1-0, 1-0) hits the road to Southwest Minnesota State University today for a 5 p.m. conference game in Marshall.

St. Peter 1-0–1

Fairmont 0-0–0

Scoring Plays

1st Half

SP–Maddie More (Amelia Carlson), 37:52.

2nd Half

No scoring.

Shots on goal: St. Peter 6-5–11; Fairmont Area 3-7–10.

Saves: Cadence Becker (F) 5-5–10; Katie Gurrola (SP) 3-7–10.

Allison Janssen produced a hat trick to power Fairmont Area to a 7-1 triumph over St. Peter during junior varsity action Thursday in Fairmont.

Janssen netted the first of her game-best three goals to stake the Cardinals to an early 1-0 lead in the first half.

Shelby Fogelson, Alysen Lindquist and Alexis Newville each tallied solo goals to cap Fairmont Area’s first-half offensive performance.

Anna Utermarck generated a goal to open the Cardinals’ second half before Janssen tallied two more goals down the stretch.

Fairmont Area (1-0) travels to New Ulm on Monday for a Big South contest.

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Boys Soccer

St. Peter 4, Fairmont Area 1 — The Saints used an 18-9 shot-on-goal advantage to pace their three-goal margin of victory over the Cardinals during season-opening Big South Conference action Thursday in St. Peter.

Tyson Geerdes made a game-high 14 saves in net for the Cardinals.

Joshua Bergt scored the lone Fairmont Area goal with 10:31 remaining in the game. Bergt had two of Fairmont Area’s nine shots on goal in the matchup.

Kaleb Hoye, Daniel Brummond, Jackson Utermarck, Carter Olson, Ryan Hennager, Campbell Krusemark and Jackson Francis each had one for the Cardinals.

The Saints scored two goals in the first half and added two more in the second half.

Fairmont Area (0-1) plays its home opener Monday by hosting New Ulm at 7 p.m. at Kot Soccer Complex.

St. Peter scored two goals in the first five minutes, and two in the final 20 minutes to take a 4-0 win over Fairmont Area in junior varsity action Thursday in St. Peter.

Bryant Armitage made 20 saves between the pipes for the Cardinals, as St. Peter outshot Fairmont 24-7 on the game.

Isaiah Lebbi had three of Fairmont Area’s shots on target, while Evan Carlson had two. Wyatt Luhmann and Ameya Komaragiri each had one.