FAIRMONT — Fairmont Area forward Tegan Roskop produced the game-tying equalizer in the third period, while defender Alexis Newville denied a late Morris/Benson Area rush in overtime to help the Cardinals salvage a 2-2 tie with the visiting Storm on Saturday at Martin County Arena.

Trailing 2-1 almost midway through the final period of regulation, Roskop worked a triangle offensive attack from behind the cage, with center Mackenzie Householder and forward Joni Becker in the corner and on the wing.

The Storm’s defenders sagged to jam the slot, leaving a sliver of ice for Roskop to skate through before snuffing home the wraparound goal at the 9:32 juncture of the third period.

“(Assistant coach) Eric (Householder) and I had just talked to our girls about how this team tries to take away shots from directly in front of the net,” said Fairmont Area head coach Ashley Olson. “Tegan was able to take advantage and finished the shot to tie it up.”

Brooklyn Meyer later nearly prevented an extra 8-minute session during the Cardinals’ fourth and final power play of regulation. Meyer drilled an ice-hugging liner from the point that Storm goaltender Leah Thompson smothered for one of her game-best 35 saves with 3:28 remaining in the third period.

Fairmont Area freshman netminder Hadley Artz then turned away four MBA shots on goal during the overtime before Alexis Newville contributed a pivotal defensive gem with less than a minute left.

Chloe Zimmel, who produced the Storm’s first goal in the opening period and later assisted on Kellie Wilts’ second-period tally, took a lead pass from Taryn Picht and rushed the left wing with time winding down in overtime. Newville matched Zimmel icy stride-for-stride from just inside the blue line to behind the cage, preventing the MBA center from getting a shot off.

“We’ve been working on that in practice — moving the body to the outside and not worrying so much about the puck,” said Olson. “Al did a great job of doing that near the end of overtime.”

Roskop, Householder and Becker unleashed the Cardinals’ best chances of snapping the deadlock in the extra session, but Thompson turned away all three players empty-handed to salvage the tie.

After Chloe Zimmel scored at the 9:49 mark of the first period for MBA, Fairmont Area answered off the stick of eighth-grade forward Jayda Healey nearly 5 minutes later. Healey took a crossing pass from Meyer just inside the blue line along the left wing and connected on a lofted slapshot that caromed off the ice and curled around the left pipe for her first varsity goal.

“Jayda scoring late in the first period was huge from a momentum standpoint and us trailing 1-0,” said Olson. “Our fourth line — Jayda, Alex Martin and Karissa Newville — has been doing a great job during their shifts on the ice for us.”

Tied at 1-all, Wilts snuffed home a right-wing entry pass from Chloe Zimmel to stake the Storm to a lead with 4:39 remaining in the second segment.

Householder and Becker combined for a double-assist on Roskop’s third-period tying goal that forced overtime.

Artz finished with 21 saves between the pipes to net a tie for the Cardinals.

Fairmont Area (1-3-1) travels to Blue Mound Ice Arena in Luverne for a 5:30 p.m. first game of a girls-boys varsity doubleheader Tuesday night. Morris/Benson Area (0-3-1) plays host to Waseca at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in Benson.

MBA 1-1-0-0–2

FA 1-0-1-0–2

Scoring Plays

1st Period

MBA–Chloe Zimmel (Hannah Zimmel, Taryn Picht), 9:49.

FA–Jayda Healey (Brooklyn Meyer), 5:06.

2nd Period

MBA–Kellie Wilts (C. Zimmel), 4:39.

3rd Period

FA–Tegan Roskop (Mackenzie Householder, Joni Becker), 9:32.

Overtime

No scoring.

Shots on goal: Fairmont Area 8-13-10-6–37; Morris/ Benson Area 9-7-3-4–23.

Saves: Hadley Artz (FA) 21; Leah Thompson (MBA) 35.

Penalties: Fairmont Area 2 for 4 minutes; MBA 4 for 8 minutes.

Power plays: Fairmont Area 0-for-4; MBA 0-for-2.