FAIRMONT — Two second-half goals powered the Eagles.

New Ulm beat Fairmont Area 3-1 in the Cardinals’ home-opening Big South Conference boys soccer matchup at Kot Soccer Complex on Monday night.

After an evenly-played first half, the Eagles came out strong in the second segment, controlling the ball for much of the first 20 minutes. But Fairmont Area’s defense held firm, keeping the Eagles from getting a shot on goal until 28:08 left in regulation.

The Eagles’ pressure broke through the Cardinal defense at the 20:43 mark of the second half, with speedy striker Jack Howard driving past the Fairmont Area defense and punching the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal from inside the box.

The Cardinals and Eagles went back-and-forth through the final 20 minutes, with New Ulm posting three more shots on goal and Fairmont Area earning four corner tries on strong offensive pressure. But as the clock wound down, New Ulm’s Dominick Olson corralled a ball coming in from the right sideline and was able to maintain control through the Cardinal defense, shooting left-to-right from inside the box. The goal put New Ulm ahead 3-1 with 12 seconds remaining.

Fairmont Area head coach Brady Meyer said though there was improvement, the Cardinals still have training to do.

“We definitely progressed from our first game against St. Peter,” Meyer said. “But we still have room to work on some fitness issues. We just kind of ran out of steam there at the end and we weren’t really playing the game we wanted to. We were just kind of kicking the ball way down the field instead of moving it up and progressing up the field. Didn’t work out for us too well today because of that.”

The Cardinals took a lead 10 minutes into the game and held it for much of the first half.

After New Ulm looked to be in control, getting three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes, the Cardinals took advantage of their first opportunity.

Kaleb Hoye collected the ball behind midfield and passed a deep through ball to Amos Broomfield down the right sideline. Broomfield dribbled toward the box and drove a hard ground pass across the New Ulm goalie to Calvin Guritz waiting on the left side of the net to tap the ball in at the 30:37 mark of the opening half for Fairmont Area’s first home goal of the season.

Meyer said he was happy with the Cardinals’ vocal support of each other.

“We were definitely more mentally strong today than we were in our last game,” Meyer said. “We were able to handle it. A lot of the guys were more positive and that’s great to see and great to hear both on and off the pitch. We still have work to do with our passing and our game plan, but I think it will come along.”

New Ulm hit the equalizer as the halftime break neared.

With 2:30 remaining before intermission, Howard took the ball to the left side of the net and shot hard off Fairmont Area goalie Tyson Geerdes. Geerdes blocked the shot, but Howard was able to corral the rebound and tap the ball into the right side of the net to even the score at 1.

Geerdes made 12 saves between the pipes for the Cardinals, while Joshua Rakoczy saved five shots for the Eagles.

Two Fairmont players earned caution warnings and a yellow card from the head referee. Rene Morales was called off with 14:01 remaining in the first half, and Broomfield was removed after a hard slide tackle with 9:31 left in the matchup.

Fairmont Area (0-2, 0-2) travels to Mankato Loyola Thursday, while New Ulm (1-0, 1-0) travels to St. Peter.

New Ulm 1-2–3

Fairmont 1-0–1

Scoring Plays

1st Half

FMT–Calvin Guritz (Amos Broomfield), 30:37.

NU–Jack Howard (unassisted), 2:30.

2nd Half

NU–Jack Howard (unassisted), 20:43.

NU–Dominick Olson (unassisted), 0:12.

Shots on goal: New Ulm 10-5–15; Fairmont Area 4-2–6.

Saves: Tyson Geerdes (F) 9-3–12; Joshua Rakoczy (NU) 3-2–5.