Staff photo by Jake Olson Fairmont forward Makenzie Gerhardt looks to push the tempo against a Waseca defender during Thursday night’s contest.

FAIRMONT – Thursday evening’s contest between Fairmont Area girls soccer and the Waseca Bluejays was a night of firsts for head coach Matt Nielsen’s Cardinal squad.

After losing competitions to La Crescent-Hokah and New Ulm without scoring a goal to begin the season, Fairmont bounced back over the Bluejays with a 2-1 victory at Jeffery Kot Field.

“What I said to them was, ‘We proved tonight we could do two things, we could score and we could win,'” Nielsen said after the game. “That’s not a question we have to answer anymore.”

Right off the bat, the Cardinal offensive attack was in an aggressive search for its first goal of the fall.

No matter the type of angle Fairmont players found themselves in, Nielsen preached a sense of urgency for anyone touching the ball around the net.

“We don’t care what the shots look like, just take them,” Nielsen said. “We just hadn’t been shooting our first two games. We were kind of looking for the perfect shot all the time, and that doesn’t come cause the other team doesn’t let it come.”

It was sophomore Makenzie Gerhardt who got things rolling on the evening at the first half’s 30-minute mark. After finding herself open deep into Bluejay territory, the forward collected her initial left crossbar ricocheting shot and punched it into the net.

While the goal wasn’t the cleanest, the energy Gerhardt showed was Nielsen’s biggest takeaway.

“I thought it was a great effort goal by Makenzie, and she just kept battling it, which was really good,” Nielsen said. “I was really pleased with the effort on that, just tenacious.”

The rest of the period saw the same level of aggressiveness from the Cardinal back defenders.

Nielsen knew his back line would go through an initial learning curve while making the transition from junior varsity to varsity. Tonight, he thought his unit had grown in a big way.

“I was just pleased with the patience overall,” Nielsen said. “I think by the time you get to this point [of the season], and the way we had to play, they are no longer inexperienced players, so they are getting there.”

At the 23-minute mark of the second half, however, the intensity increased heavily following the Bluejays drawing a penalty kick right by the Cardinal net.

Waseca brought goalkeeper Ella Bulfer to attempt the potentially game-tying shot. After winding up and following through, the ball crashed

into the back of the Cardinal net, breaking the shutout Fairmont’s defense had forced thus far.

The next 10 minutes of play saw both teams struggle to generate any sort of momentum as the home crowd rang through the evening air.

Finally, with under 10 minutes left in regulation, Fairmont again broke their offensive struggles with a set of crisp passes.

Junior Mataya Webber crossed the ball to junior Nat Johnson just feet in front of the net. As Bulfer charged to suppress the damage, Johnson chipped the ball just past the keeper as the two collided, giving the Cardinals back the lead with little time on the clock.

After holding off the Bluejays ‘ last dash of offensive pressure, cheers rang in the air after the final horn struck, with a barrage of Cardinals flying off the bench to celebrate with their team.

“It was nice to get it done for them,” Nielsen said. “They have been working hard. We are still tinkering, but we are trending in the right spot.”

Fairmont goalkeeper Addison Folkerts had her best performance of the year thus far. Helping the Cardinal defense get out of trouble multiple times on the evening, the junior finished the game with a season high 13 saves.

Moving with an ultimate increase of confidence, Nielsen credits this performance to both Folkerts and assistant coach Dominick Driano.

“Dom’s been working with the keepers and really doing a nice job of getting them in a good mindset,” Nielsen said. “It’s very difficult, you feel like you let the team down, but she was definitely improved tonight.”

Fairmont returns to action next Tuesday with a home contest against St. James/Windom/Madelia. Kickoff is set to begin around 7 p.m. at Jeffery Kot Field.