RUSH TIME — Fairmont Area midfielder Grace Simpson (10) sprints by LaCrescent-Hokah midfielder Charlee Gile (front right) during nonconference soccer action Saturday afternoon at Kot Soccer Complex in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Simone Castro (far left) and Macy Smith (back right), along with the Lancers’ Ava Reining (8), look on. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — LaCrescent/Hokah first-year head coach Jenny LaRue specifically prepared her Lancer girls soccer players on how to counter Fairmont Area mentor Matt Nielsen’s trapping defense.

Midfielder Lexi Keisau produced two goals and one assist to help power LaCrescent/Hokah to a 6-1 non-league triumph over the hometown Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Kot Soccer Complex in Fairmont.

“After being a coach last season, I knew that Matt likes to use an offsides trap with his defense, so your forwards need to be aware of their positioning on the field,” said LaRue. “I thought our girls did a good job of not getting too far upfield and used their speed to get behind their back line.”

Keisau’s persistence paid instant dividends within the first 2 minutes of regulation as the junior hooked the game’s initial corner kick into a scrum in front of the Cardinals’ cage. Fairmont Area was unable to clear the zone after a couple of caroms, and Keisau retrieved the ball and curled a left-footed high-arching shot from the right end line into the twine for a 1-0 lead at the 38:05 juncture.

“I joked with her about me giving her the first two wins in her role as head coach,” Nielsen said in reference to LaRue. “She was the acting head coach when we lost to them in LaCrescent last season (3-1 on Oct. 1), and then today in her first official game as head coach.

“She told me that they revolved their conditioning around our press and it worked.”

Fairmont Area senior striker Elayna Anderson, however, displayed her persistence by settling her own blocked initial shot before hooking the rebound into the webbing to knot the game at 1-all only 2 minutes later.

“That was a great play by Elayna to get her own rebound and then use her right foot to beat the goalie (Colleen Baumbich) up high from a wide angle,” said Nielsen. “Kennedy (Becker) made a nice pass to set up Elayna’s first shot.”

Both Fairmont Area goalkeeper Melia Menth and Baumbich kept their opposing offenses off the scoreboard for nearly 19 minutes before the Lancers’ Charlee Gile snapped the 1-all tie.

Gile was able to chip a lofted shot from the point that just sailed a few inches over Menth’s vertical leap and just under the crossbar for a 2-1 lead at the 17:22 juncture.

Keisau later got behind the Cardinals’ defense for a breakaway, faked a shot from near the right post and then lined a right-to-left shot into the far corner of the cage for a 3-1 lead with 11:59 to go before halftime.

With time winding down, Maggie Crosby alertly picked up a Fairmont Area defender’s errant clearing pass and knocked home a goal with only 4 seconds remaining in the half for a 4-1 edge.

Keisau then filtered a perfect lead pass to Ava Reining for a left-post breakaway goal at the 32:02 juncture of the second half. Allie Knutson capped the Lancers’ point production with a left doorstep pipe-hugging shot via a solo rush with 12:23 remaining.

Mollie Leiding and Elsa Thompson generated first-half shots on net for the Cardinals, while Karissa Newville, Frankie Martin and Nicole Zebedee did likewise during the final 40 minutes of the game, but to no avail.

Menth notched a game-best 12 saves for Fairmont Area, while Baumbich netted seven stops in the win for LaCrescent-Hokah.

Fairmont Area (0-2) hits the road to New Ulm on Monday for a 7 p.m. Big South Conference match, while LaCrescent-Hokah (1-0) travels to Dover-Eyota on Thursday night for a 7 p.m. Three Rivers Conference contest.

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LaCrescent-Hokah    4-2–6

Fairmont Area            1-0–1

Scoring Plays

1st Half

LH–Lexi Keisau (unassisted), 38:05.

FMT–Elayna Anderson (Kennedy Becker), 36:01.

LH–Charlee Gile (unassisted), 17:22.

LH–Lexi Keisau (unassisted), 11:59.

LH–Maggie Crosby (unassisted), 0:04.

2nd Half

LH–Ava Reining (Lexi Keisau), 32:02.

LH–Allie Knutson (unassisted), 12:23.

Shots on goal: LaCrescent-Hokah 18; Fairmont Area 8. Corners: LaCrescent-Hokah 4; Fairmont Area 1.

Saves: Melia Menth (FMT) 12; Colleen Baumbich (LH) 7.

LaCrescent-Hokah posted a 2-0 victory over Fairmont Area during junior varsity action Saturday at Kot Soccer Complex.

Addie Folkerts recorded six first-half saves for the Cardinals, while Morgan Martinson made five second-half stops between the pipes.

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Boys Soccer

Tri-City United 5, Fairmont Area 1 — Rafael Balcazar netted two goals and Alan Ortiz supplied one goal and one assist to steer the Titans to a four-goal win over the Cardinals on Saturday in Montgomery.

Angel de Jesus Gomez and Connor Skluzacek contributed one goal apiece to TCU’s win, while netminder Luke Skluzacek made five saves.

Jack Sadusky generated Fairmont Area’s lone goal, while goalkeeper Thomas Hamlet produced a game-best 23 saves.

Fairmont Area (1-1) plays host to New Ulm at 7 p.m. Monday at Kot Soccer Complex in Fairmont.

TCU downed Fairmont Area, 6-1, in junior varsity action on Saturday.

Ricki Morales Herrera converted Henery Zuniga’s assist into the Cardinals’ only goal.