ABOVE: Fairmont's Kennedy Becker knocks in the Cardinals opening goal against St. James/Madelia-Windom at Kot Fields Thursday night.

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals girls soccer team took on the St. James/Windom/Madelia Wings in a Big South Conference soccer game Thursday night at Kot Fields, winning by a score of 6-0.

Coming off a 6-1 loss, communication and defense were the key focus heading into the game for Fairmont.

“The first thing I said to them [the team] here was, ‘What was the most important number

on the scoreboard?’ And they all said at the same time, ‘Zero,'” said Fairmont girls soccer head coach Matt Nielsen. “It’s been a long time since we actually had a shutout. We’ve had a lot of games where we’ve won like 6, 7, 8, 9, but we gave up one or we gave up two. So, the goal wasn’t stated tonight as a shutout, but as we got going, then it became the challenge.”

The first half scoring opened in the fourth minute with a Kennedy Becker goal assisted by Amalia Leiding. The Cardinals wasted no time in netting their second goal of the half, scoring again just three minutes later courtesy of a pass from Becker from the right-hand side of the box that connected with Abbie Simpson, who put it past the Wings’ keeper. The offensive pressure by the Cardinals continued, keeping their opponent on their back foot until finding another gap which set up an Ellie Perkins pass to Maia Goerndt, who tapped it in to bring the score to 3-0 in the 26th minute.

When the Wings were able to get into the attacking end of the field, the Cardinal defense would immediately swarm the ball, preventing them from threatening Cardinal goalkeeper Mary Bennett.

“Defensively, I thought that the players were doing a nice job of recovering on balls and getting into everybody’s, switching to people’s positions,” said Nielsen. “So, I was really pleased with the defensive performance, the support the midfielders gave to the defense, and even the forwards on a couple occasions in the first half. They got down and were supporting, so, really pleased with it.”

Scoring opened quickly in the second half scoring their fourth goal of the night 49 seconds into the half off of a Grace Simpson pass to Amalia Leiding, who was able to tuck the ball into the back of the net. Taking advantage of their aggressive play style, the Cardinals scored again in the 43rd minute from an unassisted Becker goal from the right-hand side that found its way inside the far post.

Bennett’s first real test came from a direct free kick which she was able to catch, putting an end to the Wings’ attack. The Wings gained some momentum, but the defense of the Cardinals kept them off the board despite their best efforts. In the 79th minute of the game, Francesca Martin connected with Lauren Zarling for the sixth and final goal of the night.

The team’s communication was non-stop through out the game playing a huge factor in the teams performance according to Nielsen.

“That was a point of emphasis this week was, ‘You talk all the time on the bus, you talk all the time on the sideline now, let’s get it on the field,'” said Nielsen. “It’s very difficult to coach that, to coach talking, but they did a nice job tonight.”

It wasn’t just the varsity squad that had a winning night as the junior varsity squad came away with a 9-0 victory, with Charlie Clow, Ellie Perkins and Alyssa Moore all netting hat tricks. Alyssa Lowry, Emma Pokrus and Addie Urban each had an assist, while goalkeeper Addie Folkerts had four saves.

The C-squad came away with a big win, taking the 11-0 victory. Scoring for them was Geminnie Lopez, who added seven and Naileh Quinoz added two, while Olive Kawecki added a goal and three assists and Audrina Suckow had a goal. Lilian Matheson and Elliane Peters each had an assist, while goalkeeper Aliyah Olsen had two saves.

The Fairmont girls will take on Marshall next at Kot Fields Tuesday.