CONVERSION KICK ­— Fairmont Area’s Elayna Anderson (23) receives congratulations from Cardinal teammates Mollie Leiding (4), Mataya Weber (13) and Grace Simpson (10) after scoring a goal on a penalty kick during Big South Conference soccer action Tuesday night at Kot Soccer Complex in Fairmont. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Fairmont Area head girls soccer coach Matt Nielsen compared his Cardinals’ 3-all tie with the New Ulm Eagles on Tuesday night to building a piece of furniture from IKEA.

“I told the girls at halftime (2-all score) that this (Big South Conference) game was like assembling an item bought at IKEA,” said Nielsen. “You have a plan, you have all the pieces and you know what you want to accomplish. But somewhere in the middle of the project, it becomes a bit of a disaster and nothing seems to go together correctly.

“But in the end, if you stick with the plan, something good will eventually come out of the time you invested into it.”

New Ulm ended Fairmont Area netminder Madi Stromberg’s strong shutout bid when striker Julia Dewitt nailed a top right-shelf net-finder off a penalty kick at the 23:26 juncture of the opening half.

Stromberg actually leaped and got her gloves on the rising liner, but Dewitt’s hard-laced kick managed to find twine.

Dewitt then toed a perfect lead pass to Kaelyn Eikanger for a blast from the point to extend the visiting Eagles’ lead to 2-0 with 22:30 left in the opening half.

“We finally were persistent enough to convert one of our offensive opportunities into a pair of goals during the final three and a half minutes of the first half,” said Nielsen.

Freshman Mataya Weber found an open sliver of space in New Ulm’s back line of defense and Fairmont Area teammate Karissa Newville filtered a pinpoint pass to Weber.

The Cardinal rookie skidded a low right-to-left shot by Eagles’ netminder Elizabeth Dake to whittle the home team’s deficit in half at 2-1 with 3:29 left in the initial half.

Elayna Anderson then got fouled inside the box after the Fairmont Area senior forward split New Ulm defenders off the dribble drive with 22 seconds remaining before intermission. Anderson then took the penalty kick and drilled a top right-shelf riser into the twine to knot the game at 2-all.

“We came back after being down 2-0 in the first half, and then answered with a goal after trailing 3-2 in the second half,” said Nielsen.

New Ulm’s Jes Skoglund topped a baseball-hop shot over a diving Stromberg to stake the Eagles to a 3-2 edge with 36:59 to go in regulation.

Ironically, Newville responded in kind by driving the left wing before lofting an endline shot off a New Ulm defender and past Dake for the equalizer with 24:46 to go in regulation.

Stromberg later recorded the most vital of her game-high 10 saves by demonstrating her vertical leap to deny a left-point blast off the accurate foot of Eikanger with 21:30 remaining in regulation.

Kennedy Becker nearly tallied the go-ahead goal for Fairmont Area 5 minutes later, but Dake proved worthy of the liner by gloving it for one of her six saves.

Fairmont Area (2-8-1) travels to Mankato East on Monday for a 5 p.m. non-league clash, while New Ulm (4-4-2) plays host to nonconference opponent Mankato West at 7 p.m. Thursday night.

New Ulm 2-1–3

Fairmont 2-1–3

Scoring Plays

1st Half

NU–Julia Dewitt penalty kick, 23:26.

NU–Kaelyn Eikanger (Dewitt), 22:30.

FA–Mataya Weber (Karissa Newville), 3:29.

FA–Elayna Anderson penalty kick, 0:22.

2nd Half

NU–Jes Skoglund (unassisted), 36:59.

FA–Newville (unassisted), 24:46.

Shots-on-goal: New Ulm 13; Fairmont Area 9. Corners: New Ulm 7; Fairmont Area 2.

Saves: Madi Stromberg (FA) 10; Elizabeth Dake (NU) 6.

Nola Thedens and Charli Clow generated goals to propel Fairmont Area to a 2-1 triumph over New Ulm during junior varsity action Tuesday in Fairmont.

Thedens netted an unassisted goal, while Clow converted a Mary Bennett assist into the eventual game-winner.

Mary Bennett delivered eight saves for the Cardinals, while Addie Folkerts chipped in seven stops.

Lauren Zarling produced the game’s only goal to steer Fairmont Area to a 1-0 victory over New Ulm during C-squad action Tuesday in Fairmont.

Boys Soccer

New Ulm 8, Fairmont Area 1 — Dominick Kamrath erupted for a game-best four goals and chipped in one assist to power the Eagles to an 8-1 victory over the Cardinals during Big South Conference action Tuesday night in New Ulm.

Brennan Shaver supplied two goals and three assists to New Ulm’s winning ways, while Jackson OCampo doled out three helpers to complement one goal.

Jorvik Jensen accounted for the Cardinals’ only goal of the game.

Fairmont Area (3-6-1) plays host to Southwest Minnesota Christian at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Kot Soccer Complex.