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Fairmont Area girls soccer gains section championship match again

ACROBATIC GOAL — Fairmont Area forward Anna Utermarck (on ground) chips the soccer ball around Stewartville’s Elise Rediske and into the net during Section 2A semifinal action Saturday night at Kot Soccer Complex in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Kate Busche (14), Ellie Schultze (yellow cleats) and Rayah Quiring (21), along with Stewartville’s Kylie Jones (4), Anna Myhre (18) and Lauren Buckmeier (15), watch the athletic play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Area Cardinal girls soccer team kicked its way to a third appearance in a sectional championship match during the last four years.

Senior striker Rayah Quiring delivered the Section 2A semifinal’s initial goal and added a first-half assist to engineer No. 2-seeded Fairmont Area’s 4-1 win over the No. 3-seeded Stewartville Tigers on Saturday night in Fairmont.

The Cardinals (12-4-2) advance to face Class A No. 5-ranked and No. 1-seeded Rochester Lourdes (15-3) for the sectional crown at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night in Austin.

Lourdes gained the finals via a 5-0 victory over No. 4-seeded Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

Fairmont Area reached the sectional championship game in both 2018 and 2019.

Stewartville ended its season with an 8-8 record.

“Even though we didn’t score until nine minutes remaining in the first (40-minute) half, the girls played with confidence the whole time,” said Fairmont Area head coach Matt Nielsen, whose lineup outshot Stewartville 11-3 on the postseason clash at Kot Soccer Complex.

“Once Rayah scored our first goal, the proverbial floodgates opened and we managed to build a three-goal lead by halftime,” Nielsen added.

Senior midfielder Sami Lenort lofted a 25-yard curling free kick from the left wing that the 6-foot Quiring headed up and over a leaping Claire Olson just inside the left pipe and under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead at the 9-minute juncture.

“Sami did a good job of laying the passes into the perfect spots and her corner kicks set up a number of scoring chances, too,” said Nielsen. “Anna Utermarck then delivered an athletic conversion of a pass in traffic in the box for a goal to go up by two.”

Quiring filtered a pass through a pair of Stewartville players before Utermarck utilized a modified half bicycle kick to find the twine despite being surrounded by Tigers at the 5:56 juncture.

With time winding down in the first half, Kate Busche managed to take possession of the soccer ball following a scrum near the top of the box. Busche executed a maneuver similar to a whirling dervish to somehow squeeze her shot past Olson and into the net with only 12 seconds to go before intermission.

The Cardinals and Tigers then traded solo goals in the second half to keep the final differential at three.

Mackenzie Householder worked the middle of the field before slicing through narrow seams in Stewartville’s defense with a powerful drive. Householder muscled forward, pivoted, stopped and then hammered a kick off a Tiger defender and into the webbing for an unassisted goal at the 30:48 mark of the second half.

Junior striker Claire Ruter, who netted a team-best hat trick in Stewartville’s 8-0 sectional quarterfinal win over Cannon Falls last Thursday, converted a penalty kick at the 26:23 mark to account for the Tigers’ lone point.

Cadee Becker made three saves to net the shutout for Fairmont Area, while Olson chalked up a game-best seven stops for Stewartville.

Stewartville 0-1–1

Fairmont 3-1–4

Scoring Plays

1st Half

FA–Rayah Quiring (Sami Lenort), 9:00.

FA–Anna Utermarck (Quiring), 5:56.

FA–Kate Busche (unassisted), 0:12.

2nd Half

FA–Mackenzie Householder (unassisted), 30:48.

STEW–Claire Ruter penalty kick, 26:23.

Shots on goal: Fairmont Area 7-4–11; Stewartville 2-1–3. Saves: Claire Olson (STEW) 7; Cadee Becker (FA) 3. Corners: Fairmont Area 4; Stewartville 4.

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