Cardinals suffer narrow loss to Saints on Senior Night
FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinal girls soccer team played their final regular season match Monday night against the St. Peter Saints and took the time to pay tribute to their seniors as their tenure with the Cardinal red will soon come to a close.
The all-senior starting lineup held their own but suffered a 1-0 defeat in a Big South Conference game.
“I think it really represents the culmination of maturity,” said Fairmont girls soccer head coach Matt Nielsen. “Most players aren’t going to go on and play in college, so this has been an experience that’s been part of their lives since they were four or five years old. Certainly for their parents, until these kids got licenses, they were driving them everywhere, and they still get to wash their stuff, and cry their tears, and share their joys, and so it’s just kind of a nice celebration of that two-way relationship. So we honor it, we start all of our seniors, no matter who the opponent is or the situation. That’s what I’ve always done, and I’m proud to continue that tradition.”
Despite the close loss, the Cardinals will now focus toward the Big South Conference Championship game on Thursday.
The Saints struck once in the first half for the only goal of the game when Keira Friedrich found her way through the Cardinal back four and drove the ball past goalkeeper Mary Bennett in the 14th minute. From then on it became a defensive battle to the end.
Bennett saved nine on the night.
The Cardinals started to generate more offensive chances in the second half, but the Saints’ defense stood strong and responded in kind forcing Bennett to make a crucial save in the 11th minute, keeping them from adding to their 1-0 lead.
“I was pleased overall,” said Nielsen. “I think that the biggest difference in not having the conventional lineup was the communication, we’re not talking in the same way because we’re not in the same lines. Even though they’re teammates, it’s hard when you’re not used to the people around you, but I thought for what that game was, and we wanted it, but I was really pleased with how we were top to bottom.”
The regular season is now over for the seniors on the squad, which include Cadence Leiding, Elsa Thompson, Grace Simpson, Isabella Schroeder, Kaitlyn Hinz, Kennedy Becker, Macy Smith, Madison Pluim, Mary Bennett, Nicole Zebedee and Simone Castro. However, they are aiming to immortalize their time by bringing home a banner for their school.
“I told them, ‘Embrace the opportunity, there’s no pressure, but it’s an opportunity to actually be declared a champion of a conference, and it’s under your control. You’re not relying on somebody else to lose, you’re not relying on a goal differential. It’s win the game, and you got a banner,'” Nielsen said.
The junior varsity squad was able to secure a victory over the Saints 1-0 with a goal from Megan Hector and Addie Folkerts had six saves on the night.