OFF THE BOUNCE — Fairmont Area’s Alexis Newville (19) fights through an opening between a Luverne player and hometown Cardinal teammate Hannah Goerndt (right) to grab the bouncing puck during Big South hockey action Saturday at Martin County Arena in Fairmont. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Luverne sophomore Kamryn Van Batavia and junior Reghan Bork, the Minnesota Girls Hockey Hub’s respective Nos. 1 and 6 point producers in the entire state, ventured to Martin County Arena on Saturday and more than lived up to their billings.

Van Batavia generated a game-best six points via two goals and four assists, Bork delivered two goals and two helpers, while eighth-grade forward Peyton Behr netted a hat trick and one assist to power Luverne to a 12-0 rout of Fairmont Area.

“What can I say? Luverne’s players see the entire ice, they handle the puck well, they pass well and they put a lot of pressure on your defense,” said Fairmont Area head coach Ashley Olson, whose lineup got outshot 49-8 during the Big South Conference clash in Fairmont. “They’re a great program.”

Van Batavia, who entered Martin County Arena with a state-leading 55 points on the strength of 28 goals and 27 assists, needed only 27 seconds to add to her impressive regular-season totals. Luverne’s super sophomore center worked around the left side of the cage before drilling a shot from the crease for a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for Fairmont Area, senior forward Rylee Gee found the twine with an unassisted wrister only 30 seconds later. It was the first of two goals on the day for Gee, who entered the contest with 11 goals and 12 assists.

Bork, who’s sixth in the state in points (43) via 20 goals and 23 helpers, lit the lamp by taking a filtered lead pass from Van Batavia along the right wing and ripped a blast inside the pipe for a 3-0 lead with 13:54 left in the opening frame.

Roz Oye then delivered a crossing pass to Gee for a right-wing laser slapshot at the 10:36 juncture before Behr and Van Batavia combined for a double-assist on Brynn Thier’s one-timer from the point for a 5-0 edge with 3:13 to go before the first intermission.

Van Batavia unleashed a pipe-denting rocket from the left wing for a top-shelf goal off Bork’s precision pass with only 44 seconds remaining in the first before Behr beat the buzzer by four ticks with a breakaway wrister for a 7-0 margin.

Behr, Oye and Bork delivered second-period goals for Luverne before Anika Boll and Behr capped the goal-scoring with one apiece in the third. Van Batavia assisted on the lamplighting shots by Oye and Behr, respectively.

Emily Sokoloski drilled two of Fairmont Area’s three second-period shots on net, but both were gloved by Luverne goalie Mallory Von Tersch to maintain her shutout. Von Tersch iced her win by snagging Brooklyn Meyer’s rising right-wing liner with 1 minute left in regulation for her eighth and final save.

Fairmont Area sophomore netminder Hadley Artz amassed a game-leading 37 saves between the pipes.

Fairmont Area (4-10) hits the road to Luverne (11-4) for Game 2 of the pair of Cardinals’ home-and-away regular-season series on Tuesday night.

Luverne 7-3-2–12

Fairmont 0-0-0– 0

Scoring Plays

1st Period

LUV–Kamryn Van Batavia (unassisted), 16:33.

LUV–Rylee Gee (unassisted), 16:03.

LUV–Reghan Bork (Kamryn Van Batavia), 13:54.

LUV–Rylee Gee (Roz Oye), 10:36.

LUV–Brynn Thier (Peyton Behr, Kamryn Van Batavia), 3:13.

LUV–Kamryn Van Batavia (Reghan Bork), 0:44.

LUV–Peyton Behr (unassisted), 0:04.

2nd Period

LUV–Peyton Behr (Zariah Holmgren), 14:48.

LUV–Roz Oye (Sophie Holmberg, Kamryn Van Batavia), 10:57.

LUV–Reghan Bork (unassisted), PP, 1:18.

3rd Period

LUV–Anika Boll (Reghan Bork), 15:45.

LUV–Peyton Behr (Kamryn Van Batavia), 6:48.

Shots on goal: Luverne 22-15-12–49; Fairmont Area 3-3-2–8.

Saves: Hadley Artz (FA) 37; Mallory Von Tersch (LUV) 8.

Penalties: Fairmont Area 3 for 6 minutes; Luverne none.

Power-play chances: Luverne 1-for-3; Fairmont Area none.

Boys Hockey

Luverne 11, Fairmont Area 2 — Brock Behrend netted Saturday’s hockey game’s initial goal 2:40 into the first period, produced its last goal 35 seconds into the third frame and squeezed in four goals in between at Blue Mound Ice Arena.

Behrend’s six-goal performance, combined with five-point efforts by Cooper Arends and Cade Wenninger, powered Luverne’s 11-2 Big South Conference triumph over Fairmont Area.

Behrend recorded a hat trick, Wenninger collected both of his goals and two of his three helpers, while Arends doled out half of his four assists to pace Luverne’s 6-1 lead after one completed period.

Trailing 4-0, Alexander Moeller ruined Luverne goalie Shaid Shearer’s shutout bid by converting a double-assist from Alec Reutzel and Kaiden Musser into Fairmont Area’s first goal 4:23 into the opening frame.

Down 9-1, Hudson Artz produced Fairmont Area’s second net-finding shot of the game. Hudson Artz scored off a double-assist from Brock Lutterman and Hank Artz 8:25 into the second period.

Shearer finished with 28 saves to earn the victory for Luverne, while Fairmont Area goalie Rachel O’Connor tallied 22 saves.

Fairmont Area (0-14) plays host to Worthington at 7 p.m. tonight at Martin County Arena before playing host to Luverne (6-9) in Game 2 of their home-and-away regular-season series on Tuesday night.

Fairmont 1-1-0– 2

Luverne 6-4-1–11

Scoring Plays

1st Period

LUV–Brock Behrend (Cade Wenninger), 2:40.

LUV–Cade Wenninger (Cooper Arends), 3:05.

LUV–Zach Kruse (Hans Hoven), 3:21.

LUV–Brock Behrend (unassisted), 4:09.

FA–Alexander Moeller (Alec Reutzel, Kaiden Musser), 4:23.

LUV–Cade Wenninger (Carlton Oftedahl, Cooper Arends), 4:38.

LUV–Brock Behrend (Cade Wenninger), 6:13.

2nd Period

LUV–Cooper Arends (Carlton Oftedahl), PP, 0:55.

LUV–Spencer Kracht (Zach Kruse), 2:58.

LUV–Brock Behrend (Cade Wenninger), 4:04.

FA–Hudson Artz (Brock Lutterman, Hank Artz), 8:25.

LUV–Brock Behrend (Cooper Arends), SH, 14:45.

3rd Period

LUV–Brock Behrend (Carlton Oftedahl, Cooper Arends), 0:35.

Shots on goal: Luverne 10-17-6–33; Fairmont Area 7-13-10–30.

Saves: Shaid Shearer (LUV) 28; Rachel O’Connor (FA) 22.

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

Power-play chances: Luverne 1-for-1; Fairmont 0-for-3.