FAIRMONT — Three three-goal periods powered the Eagles.

New Ulm beat the Fairmont Area Cardinals 9-0 during Big South Conference hockey action Tuesday in Fairmont.

The win leaves New Ulm undefeated in Big South Conference play at 13-0 and three games ahead of Luverne with only one game left, while Luverne has two to play.

Jayda Helget got the game’s scoring started with a goal at the 13:53 mark of the first period.

Brooke Arneson sent the puck from the left circle to Helget waiting near the right pipe where she tapped it into the bottom-right corner of the cage.

Ally Steffensmeier then used a Morgan Klein centering pass from behind the net to score with 7:01 left in the opening segment before Maddi O’Connor used a Helget assist to put the Eagles ahead 3-0 at the 3:30 juncture of the first segment.

Steffensmeier then scored the first New Ulm goal of the second period unassisted at the 4:04 mark before Jada Rahe used an Afton Hulke assist at the 3:10 juncture. Hulke attempted a wraparound shot, but the rebound off the rejected try went to Rahe who wristed the puck upper-shelf on the left side of the net.

Helget then scored her second off a Evie Sellner assist with 2:19 left in the middle segment when Helget collected a Sellner pass in a scrum with her back to the net, then quickly flipped around and wristed the puck into the webbing.

Sellner then reversed roles as she scored off a Hulke assist with 14:20 left in the matchup when Hulke sent a centering pass from behind the net to Sellner waiting 16 feet from the net.

Hulke reversed her role as well, scoring off a Brooke Merkel assist with 13:34 left before McKenna Strong scored an unassisted, short-handed goal at the 1:58 juncture of the final period.

Fairmont Area head coach Ashely Olson said the Cardinals tried something new on defense.

“New Ulm is a good team, they cycled the puck low, they shoot to score and they capitalize on the opportunities they have,” Olson said. “We as a team tried something different today with our defensive zone, where we played a one-on-one and yesterday was the first time we tried to practice it. They’re a strong team. We worked hard, they just came out on top.”

New Ulm outshot Fairmont Area 41-7 in the matchup.

Fairmont Area (7-14-1, 4-9 Big South) plays its penultimate game of the regular season at Luverne at 7 p.m. Thursday, then plays its final matchup of the year hosting Rochester Mayo at 1 p.m. Saturday.

New Ulm (17-7, 13-0 Big South) goes to Waseca at 7 p.m. Thursday for the Eagles’ final game of the regular season.

New Ulm 3-3-3–9

Fairmont Area 0-0-0–0

Scoring Plays

1st Period

NU–Jayda Helget (Brooke Arneson, Molly Scheid), 13:53.

NU–Ally Steffensmeier (Morgan Klein), 7:01.

NU–Maddi O’Connor (Jayda Helget), 3:30.

2nd Period

NU–Ally Steffensmeier (unassisted), 4:04.

NU–Jada Rahe (Afton Hulke), 3:10.

NU–Jayda Helget (Evie Sellner), 2:19.

3rd Period

NU–Evie Sellner (Afton Hulke), 14:20.

NU–Afton Hulke (Brooke Merkel), 13:34.

NU–McKenna Strong (unassisted), 1:58 SH.

Shots on goal: New Ulm 13-20-8–41; Fairmont Area 2-3-2–7.

Saves: Rachel O’Connor (FA) 10-17-5–32; Ava Brennan (NU) 2-3-2–7.

Penalties: New Ulm 1 for 2 minutes; Fairmont Area 3 for 6 minutes.

Power-play chances: Fairmont Area 0 for 1; New Ulm 0 for 3.