FINDING THE NET — Fairmont Area’s Lucas Sommers (right) flips the puck past Worthington netminder Brody Pederson (30) for one of his two goals during Thursday night’s Big South Conference hockey game at Martin County Arena in Fairmont. The Cardinals’ Gavin Kester (6) watches the goal. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Area Cardinals boys hockey team came up short in its comeback attempt against the Worthington Trojans 9-4 on Thursday night.

A flurry of goals in the opening period from the Trojans led to a swift goaltender change from the Cardinals and it proved to be an uphill battle from there.

The first period opened with a bang as both sides found the back of the net within the first two minutes.

Trojans’ senior forward Caden Van Briesen cracked the scoring column first with a goal just 11 seconds into the game off a nice feed from junior forward Spenser Nickel. Nickel would provide plenty more scoring for the Trojans as the game went on.

The Cardinals struck back though just under two minutes into the game when sophomore forward Gavin Kester scored the equalizer off an assist from senior forward Lucas Sommers.

That would prove to be the last positive moment of the opening period for the Cardinals as the Trojans would go on to rattle off five more first-period goals to get out to an early lead.

It started with 11:53 remaining in the first period when Trojans senior defender Ian Bumgardner scored off a pass from forward Nickel. With 4:45 remaining in the period, Nickel scored his first goal of the night off an assist from junior defender Evan Bumgardner.

Nickel would score again just under two minutes later to push the advantage to 4-1 in the Trojans’ favor.

After that goal, Cardinals’ head coach Dylan Van Brocklin had seen enough and decided to make a switch in goal.

Cardinals’ senior keeper Carson Johnson was subbed out for sophomore Brandon Hector to try and stop the scoring onslaught.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Hector didn’t have much better luck.

With 1:57 remaining in the first period, Trojans’ junior forward Easton Newman scored the team’s fifth goal of the period off a feed from freshman forward Dominic Pavelko. With a minute left in the first, Nickel scored his second goal of the game off an assist from junior forward Ayden Stugelmeyer to make the score 6-1 entering the second period.

The second period would prove more competitive.

Both sides struggled to find their legs to start the period, but eventually settled in.

The Cardinals struck first a tad under six minutes into the period. Lucas Sommers scored a goal unassisted to cut the Trojan lead to 6-2.

The Cardinals continued to press, but eventually Nickel wiggled free again, scoring his third goal of the game off an assist from Ian Bumgardner during a power play.

At that point, the frustration on the Cardinals’ side boiled over.

Following a hard check on the glass, a fight broke out sparked by Cardinals’ senior defender Connor Gronewald, resulting in his ejection and penalty time for both sides.

With the score at 7-2 entering the third period, the game appeared to be out of the Cardinals’ reach.

Nickel didn’t let the rough housing bother him though, he would let the energy fuel his next scoring effort. Nickel scored just 11 seconds into the third period with a power-play goal off an assist from Ian Bumgardner.

Then it was the Cardinals turn. Senior forward Jace Prindle zipped down the ice and go the job done alone, scoring an unassisted goal to make the score 8-3 with 14:08 remaining in the game.

Next it was Sommers again, this time off an assist from senior defender Mathew Cone during a power play. With that goal, the Trojans’ lead was cut in half at 8-4.

The Trojans got the last laugh though, as Nickel capped off his incredible game with his final goal with 9:47 remaining in the third period.

Nickel did it all for the Trojans on the night finishing with five goals and two assists.

With the win, Worthington improved to 1-8 and will look to make it two in a row when they face off at 3 p.m. Saturday against Waseca at home.

As for Fairmont Area, they will look to get back in the win column at 1 p.m. Saturday when they take on Redwood Valley on the road in Redwood Falls. With the loss, the Cardinals’ record slides to 1-13 overall.

WO 6 1 2–9

FA 1 1 2–4

Scoring Plays

1st Period

WO–Caden Van Briesen (Spenser Nickel), 16:49.

FA–Gavin Kester (Lucas Sommers), 15:20.

WO–Ian Bumgardner (Spenser Nickel), 11:53.

WO–Spenser Nickel (Evan Bumgardner), 4:45.

WO–Spenser Nickel (Ian Bumgardner), 2:47.

WO–Easton Newman (Dominic Pavelko), 1:57.

WO–Spenser Nickel (Ayden Stugelmeyer), 1:12.

2nd Period

FA–Lucas Sommers (unassisted), 11:33.

WO–Spenser Nickel (Ian Bumgardner), PP., 5:08.

3rd Period

WO–Spenser Nickel (Ian Bumgardner), PP., 16:49.

FA–Jace Prindle (unassisted), 14:08.

FA–Lucas Sommers (Mathew Cone), PP., 12:47.

WO–Spenser Nickel (Ian Bumgardner), 9:47.

Shots–Worthington 31; Fairmont Area 23.

Saves–Brandon Hector (FA) 14, Carson Johnson (FA) 6; Brody Pederson (WT) 19.

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Girls Hockey

Fairmont Area 3, Worthington 0 — Junior goaltender Ilana Moeller pitched a shutout to help power the Cardinals to a 3-0 victory over the host Trojans during Big South Conference hockey action Thursday night in Worthington.

Moeller recorded 17 saves to earn the victory between the pipes for the Cardinals.

After a scoreless opening 17-minute period, Fairmont Area erupted for three second-period goals and Moeller took care of the rest with her stonewalling defensive performance.

Frankie Martin broke the ice by netting the Cardinals’ initial goal off an assist from Bella Larson 1:15 into the middle segment for a 1-0 lead.

Abi Sundeen then doubled Fairmont Area’s advantage on the scoreboard by smacking home a pass from Alex Martin 4:45 into the second frame.

Maia Goerndt continued her goal-scoring streak by finding the back of the Trojans’ net off an assist from Keara Flanagan 8:45 into the second segment for a 3-0 lead.

Fairmont Area (3-11) plays host to Princeton/Becker/Big Lake at 2 p.m. Saturday in a nonconference game at Martin County Arena.