×

Trojans boys soccer edges Cardinals, 2-1

FAIRMONT — Two second-half goals lifted the Trojans.

Worthington beat the Fairmont Area Cardinals 2-1 in a Big South Conference boys soccer matchup, ending the Cardinals regular season with a record of 7-8-1.

The Cardinals wait for today’s seeding announcement to find out who and where they play in Monday’s first round of the Section 2A tournament.

With Fairmont Area ahead 1-0, the Trojans came out of halftime strong.

Eric Knuckles put Worthington on the scoreboard when he coralled a rebounded clearance shot from a Cardinal defender in the goalie box and hit a one-touch shot into the upper shelf to equalize with 33:11 left in the second half.

Worthington kept possession, forcing the next three shots on goal in the matchup before the Cardinals got their first of the second half.

Then a corner kick turned into the lead for the Trojans.

The kick came in from Guadalupe Padilla on the left corner before it was tipped between Fairmont Area defenders and Trojan players. Knuckles went for a diving header attempt, hitting it off the right post, where Dalen Gonzalez collected the rebound and put it past Cardinal goalie Tyson Geerdes into the bottom right corner of the net with 14:39 left in the matchup.

Fairmont Area head coach Brady Meyer said a couple of mistakes took down the Cardinals.

“I thought we played pretty good,” Meyer said. “Possessionwise we played well. We just had a couple breakdowns and they (Worthington) were able to convert on those. Going forward we need to create more scoring opportunities.”

The Cardinals could not get another shot on goal in the remaining minutes.

Fairmont Area’s first-half goal came on a deep pass.

Daniel Brummond launched the ball from near midfield to the front-right corner of the goalie box where Juan Santana Sanz was waiting for it and hit a touch shot over the approaching Worthington goalie and into the middle of the net with 22:03 left in the opening half.

Tyson Geerdes made 11 saves between the pipes for the Cardinals before Bryant Armatige came in to commemorate senior night with 10 minutes left. Armatige made one save.

Worthington goalkeeper Andy Garcia made two saves to net the win.

Meyer said going into the playoffs, the Cardinals will need to fight for all 80 minutes.

“We’re definitely going to have to make sure we’re giving our full effort,” Meyer said. “We need to give our full pressure, work on keeping possession the entire game. We’re (coaching staff) going to be asking more from them (players) and that’s all they need because they know what they need to do. They just need to keep pushing for it.”

Worthington 0-2–2

Fairmont Area 1-0–1

Scoring Plays

1st Half

FA–Juan Santana Sanz (Dan Brummond), 22:03.

2nd Half

WOR–Eric Knuckles (unassisted), 33:11.

WOR–Dalen Gonzalez (Eric Knuckles), 14:39.

Shots on goal: Fairmont Area 2-1–3; Worthington 6-8–14. Corners: Fairmont Area 3; Worthington 6.

Saves: Andy Garcia (WOR) 2; Tyson Geerdes (FA) 11; Bryant Armatige (FA) 1.

Girls Soccer

Fairmont Area 8, Worthington 0 — Lexi Kaufman generated a rare tripleheader to power the Cardinals’ 8-0 Big South shutout over the Trojans during their regular-season finale on Thursday night in Worthington.

Kaufman netted a hat trick on the strength of three header shots, Rayah Quiring earned a playmaker with four assists to complement one goal, Joni Becker netted two goals, while Sami Lenort produced one goal and an assist.

Joni Becker converted Lenort’s assist into an early 1-0 Cardinals’ lead at the 31:14 juncture before Quiring cashed in a penalty kick at the 24:16 mark.

The Kaufman-from-Quiring connection then produced back-to-back goals off Kaufman headers at the 5:59 and 4:31 junctures of the first half en route to a 4-0 lead.

McKayla Chambers opened the second half with an unassisted goal off a 70-yard run for Fairmont Area only 2:14 into the final 40-minute segment.

Joni Becker converted an Emma Schultze assist into a Cardinal goal at the 33:36 mark, Kaufman worked her magic with Quiring for her third goal of the game with 28:51 left before Quiring spotted Lenort for the game’s final goal with 26:46 showing on the scoreboard.

Cadence Becker did not face a shot between the pipes for the Cardinals in the first half before Abby Cihoski made two saves in the second half.

Fairmont Area outshot Worthington 30-2 and produced 20 corners.

Fairmont Area (12-2-1) plays host to a Section 2A quarterfinal game Saturday, Oct. 12, at Kot Soccer Complex against an undetermined opponent at a time to be determined.

Fairmont Area battled to a 2-all tie with Worthington during junior varsity action Thursday.

Kalie Hanna scored off an Anna Utermarck assist for the Cardinals, while Kaiden Boerner chipped in an unassisted goal.

Hannah Bergt and Kalie Hanna shared goaltending duties for Fairmont Area.

Andrea Rojo scored two goals and Charli Clow doled out two assists to engineer Fairmont Area’s 4-1 win over Worthington during C-squad action Thursday.

Elayna Anderson and Kennedy Becker each supplied one goal for the Cardinals, while Kennedy Baarts and Kelsey Hunter dished out assists.

Madi Stromberg made six stops in goal for Fairmont Area.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.65/week.

Subscribe Today