ON THE ROAD — Members of the Fairmont Area Cardinal boys soccer team scheduled to travel to St. Peter tonight for their season-opening match include, front row (left to right): Dominic Earhart, Jorvik Jensen, Ethan Pockrus, Vaughn Thompson, Angel Sanchez, Jack Sadusky, Caleb Meyer, Jon Heinze, Isaiah Lockwood, Thomas Hamlet and Luis Martin. Back row: Brody Deuel, Aaron Graplar, Korbyn Dorow, Diego Morales, Hunter Olson, Josiah Hoye, Christian Selbrade, Rafael Becerra-Martinez, Ian Covarubius and Douglas Garcia. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Life will be different this season for Fairmont Area head coach Brady Meyer and his Cardinals boys soccer team.

Prince Lebbi was an offensive juggernaut a year ago and the Cardinals’ leading scorer, but graduated.

“We have a lot of new faces this season, and our offense will look different with multiple players having to step up,” Meyer said. “Offensively, we’ll be more diversified than we were a year ago, and that might be a good thing for us.”

Jack Sadusky, Douglas Garcia and Angel Sanchez will lead the offensive charge, replacing Lebbi’s offensive output. The trio played on the varsity a year ago.

Other returning players are Jorvik Jensen, Aaron Graplar, Josiah Hoye, Isaiah Lockwood and Jonathan Heinze.

Team captains are the senior foursome of Hoye, Sadusky, Graplar and Lockwood.

Defensively, Graplar, Korbyn Dorow, Ethan Pockrus and Dominic Earhart will solidify the backline for the Cardinals.

Besides Dorow, Pockrus and Earhart, other newcomers to the varsity are Rafael Becerra Martinez, Levi Garcia, Thomas Hamlet, Juan Hernandez, Luis Martin, Caleb Meyer, Diego Morales, Gerson Revolorio and Vaughn Thompson.

The Cardinals finished 8-9-1 overall last season, losing a 1-0 decision to Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa in a Section 2A semifinal.

Fairmont Area was outscored 38-32 last season and averaged a little more than 1 1/2 goals per game.

The Cardinals scored a season-high four goals twice during the 2022 campaign — on Aug. 30 in a 4-4 home tie with Southwest Minnesota Christian and again on Sept. 29 in a 4-1 home win over Cannon Falls.

The Cardinals finished 5-4 in one-goal games, 4-8 in Big South Conference games, 3-0-1 in nonconference games and 1-1 in the section.

“It’s the second straight year we lost to Pine Island (Z-M) in the section,” Meyer said. “Third time is the charm, right?

“We play a tough schedule, but we have a group of guys that are working hard. We’re getting there.”

Fairmont Area plays home-and-away league games against St. Peter, Waseca, Marshall, Worthington, New Ulm and Windom/St. James.

“Worthington is once again the team to beat in our conference,” Meyer said. “We have a lot of conference games on our schedule, which doesn’t leave much room for non-conference games.”

Worthington is the three-time defending Big South Conference champion, winning last season with an 11-1 mark and in 2021 with a 12-0 mark.

Worthington also won the conference in 2020 with a 9-0-1 record, but was third in 2019 at 6-4-2.

Fairmont Area plays non-conference games against Tri-City United, Southwest Minnesota Christian and Cannon Falls to complete its 16-game regular season schedule.

The Cardinals’ Section 2A Tournament begins Thursday, Oct. 12, at the higher-seeded team.

Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa is the two-time defending champion.

Fairmont Area opens its season with an away game tonight against the host Saints at the Floyd B. Johnson Memorial Field in St. Peter.

“We get a gauge for how we stack up right away with St. Peter,” Meyer said. “It should be a very good game, and interesting to see where we stand.”