FAIRMONT — The Cardinals are flying on an upward trajectory.

Fairmont Area beat the Waseca Bluejays 1-0 in a Big South Conference boys soccer match Tuesday night at Kot Soccer Complex, for their second consecutive win.

The lone goal came off the left boot of Juan Santana Sanz, his third in the two games he has played in this season.

With a back-and-forth first half winding down and only 1:32 still showing on the opening clock, the Cardinals were able to get past Waseca goalkeeper Brock Bye. Calvin Guritz took the ball just outside the left side of the goalie box and sent a lined cross pass in front of the net, where Santana Sanz connected on a one-touch, knee-high shot that bounced past Bye into the left side of the net.

Fairmont head coach Brady Meyer said Santana Sanz’s goal and strong defense were part of an all-around, well-played game.

“We put a whole game together and we never really let up through the entire game and we came out with a win,” Meyer said.

The shot was Fairmont Area’s fourth of the first half, while Waseca sent five shots toward netminder Tyson Geerdes in the opening segment.

Waseca had the offensive pressure on through the first half, maintaining possession and forcing six corner tries, but to no avail as Geerdes maintained the shutout.

Waseca nearly hit the equalizer with 28:01 remaining in the matchup when Brandon Lopez handled a free kick from 25 yards out and sent the ball in front of the net where Jacob Hulscher got a solid header toward the goal, but Geerdes was able to dive to his right and stop the ball from rolling into the bottom-left side of the net.

Waseca kept the pressure up in the second half, totalling five shots on goal, while Fairmont was able to get only two. But Fairmont was able to control the ball through the final minutes, playing a maintained offense to run down the clock.

Meyer said pressure throughout the field brought on the Cardinals’ late-game defense in the team’s past two wins.

“It really starts at the top,” Meyer said. “We’re telling our forwards and mids to really apply a lot of pressure so their defense and mids can’t really get good passes off. That’s what we were really pressing today, good pressure up top and in the mids.”

The matchup started off physical, with players shoved off the ball and to the ground on both sides, before evolving into slide tackles taking players out from behind. Only two yellowcards were handed out in the matchup, both to the Cardinals.

With 29:45 left in the game, Campbell Krusemark was shown the yellow card, then with 27:22 remaining, Brycen Lutterman earned one after retaliating for a no-call.

Meyer said though the game involved a lot of contact, the Cardinal players were able to make the best of it.

“It was a physical game and the guys adapted,” Meyer said. “We got two yellow cards for it, but we found our boundary and we just kept playing that kind of game.”

One victom of the physical play was Santana Sanz, who had to leave the field in the final minutes after hard contact with a Waseca defender.

Geerdes earned the win with a shutout, making 10 saves, while Bye totalled five.

Santana Sanz and Amos Broomfield led the Cardinals with two shots on goal each, while Dan Brummond and Cole Cristopher each had one.

Fairmont Area (2-2, 2-2 Big South) play host to Marshall at 7 p.m. Thursday, while Waseca (1-3, 0-2) travel to Mankato for a 5 p.m. Matchup with Mankato Loyola on Thursday.

Waseca 0-0–0

Fairmont 1-0–1

Scoring Plays

1st Half

FA–Juan Santana Sanz (Calvin Guritz), 1:32.

2nd Half

No scoring.

Shots on goal: Fairmont Area 4-2–6; Waseca 5-5–10. Corners: Fairmont Area 1-2–3; Waseca 6-0–6.

Saves: Tyson Geerdes (FA) 5-5–10; Brock Bye (WAS) 3-2–5.

Waseca scored three consecutive goals to take a comeback victory over Fairmont Area during junior varsity action Tuesday.

Ameya Komaragiri scored Fairmont Area’s only goal of the contest unassisted, just 3:26 into the opening half, but Waseca equalized 10 minutes later, then scored two second-half goals to take their eventual 3-1 winning score.

Waseca outshot Fairmont Area 10-2 in the matchup.

Cardinal netminder Bryant Armitage made seven saves between the pipes.