WORTHINGTON — Lucas Sommers triggered the No. 9-seeded Fairmont Area Cardinals’ third-period cardiac comeback victory over the No. 8-seeded Worthington Trojans during Tuesday night’s Section 3A play-in hockey playoff game in Worthington.

Trailing 3-1 after two completed periods, Sommers hammered home the first and last of Fairmont Area’s three goals during the final 17 minutes of regulation to cap a 4-3 triumph over Worthington.

Fairmont Area (3-23) advances to face No. 1-seeded Luverne in a 7 p.m. sectional quarterfinal at Blue Mound Ice Arena in Luverne on Saturday night. Luverne earned a first-round bye.

Tied at 3-all, Sommers found the twine with an unassisted shot at the 12:35 mark of the third period to put the Cardinals ahead for good.

Sommers opened the final frame with his first goal of the game in unassisted fashion 3:57 into the segment.

Gavin Kester then knotted the score at 3-all by converting teammate Luke Kester’s assist into the equalizer 4:41 into the third period.

Luke Kester staked Fairmont Area to a 1-0 lead in the opening segment by smacking home an unassisted goal at the 16:01 juncture.

Worthington came to life in the second frame, beginning with a goal from Spenser Nickel just 3:24 into the period off an assist from Dominic Pavelko.

The Trojans claimed the lead at 2-1 when Ian Bumgardner scored eight minutes later off an assist from Easton Newman.

The Cardinals couldn’t stop the bleeding as the Trojans Newman scored a goal four minutes later off a find from Dawson Duangapai to make the score 3-1.

Brandon Hector recorded 16 saves between the pipes to earn the win for Fairmont Area.

Brody Pederson made 15 stops for the Trojans.

Fairmont Area       1-0-3–4

Worthington         0-3-0–3

Scoring Plays

1st Period

FA–Luke Kester (unassisted), 16:01.

2nd Period

WO–Spenser Nickel (Dominic Pavelko), 3:24.

WO–Ian Bumgardner (Easton Newman), 11:54.

WO–Easton Newman (Dawson Duangapai), 15:59.

3rd Period

FA–Lucas Sommers (unassisted), 3:57.

FA–Gavin Kester (Luke Kester), 4:41.

FA–Lucas Sommers (unassisted), 12:35.

Shots–Fairmont Area 19; Worthington 19.

Saves–Brandon Hector (Fairmont Area) 16; Brody Pederson (Worthington) 15.