Staff photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont’s Halyn Haycraft fires a shot on goal during the second period of Tuesday night’s contest against New Prague at the Martin County Arena. The Cardinals beat the Trojans 11-0.

FAIRMONT – Carly Gustafson, Alexis Haycraft and Lauren Bettin glided down the ice during the waning moments of Tuesday night’s second period faceoff against New Prague, trying to capitalize on yet another scoring opportunity against the Trojan defense.

After a couple of nifty passes between the three, it was Alexis Haycraft who ultimately put the puck into the back of the net, completing the hat trick and capping off a nine-goal barrage in the first two periods of the game, showing fans at the Martin County Arena what true team hockey looks like.

Fairmont ended the contest winning 11-0, outshooting the Trojans 48-14 with six different Cardinals putting one past the net.

“I was very pleased that it was a complete team game,” Fairmont head coach Aaron Haycraft said. “We played as a whole group out there. We shared the puck really well, we pressured the puck really well, we possessed the puck, and really proud of how we moved it, especially in the offensive zone.”

Another pleasing sign for Aaron Haycraft was his team’s ability to come out of each period and play aggressively right from the jump. In each period of the contest, the Cardinals were able to score a goal in at least the first seven minutes.

“That makes us [the coaching staff] all extremely happy,” Aaron Haycraft said. “That is how you want to start a hockey game, you want to start it flying and putting a lot of pressure. That pumps us up.”

The Cardinals started things off on the defensive side of things, with goalkeeper Alexis Sundeen picking up two quick saves with 13 minutes remaining in the first period. Sundeen finished the night with 14 saves, providing a steady presence throughout the contest.

After settling into the game for the first seven minutes, Mariel Parish and Alexis Haycraft ultimately got things going for Fairmont’s offense. Using their impressive puck handling, the two sophomores scored unassisted goals a little more than a minute apart in the first period to start things off. Parish scored with 10:49 left in the period, while Alexis Haycraft’s goal game with 9:38 left in the period.

The scoring continued moments later with two more goals coming in the next two minutes. Gustafson used a pass from Parish for her first score of the night, while Halyn Haycraft joined the offensive surge with a score just under eight minutes to play in the first.

Halyn Haycraft put the finishing touches on the period after tacking on one more goal with 1:44 left. Kennedy Murphy found the sophomore on the outside shell of Fairmont’s power-play offense, passing the puck to her left before Halyn Haycraft did the rest.

Fairmont continued to take advantage of the power play on its next two goals to start the second period. Alexis Haycraft used a timely pass from Bettin to put the Cardinals’ sixth goal on the scoreboard. Ten minutes later, the surveying Parish scanned the middle of the ice while behind the net, finding Murphy right in front of the goal and delivering a perfect pass.

Bettin tacked on another goal with just under three minutes left in the second period. While bodies were piling up right in front of the net, the sophomore was in the right place at the right time, using a slight pass from Alexis Haycraft to muster the puck past the net.

“It was not expected today,” Aaron Haycraft said on his offense’s performance. “I am glad to see us putting pucks in the net, though. That means a lot, especially going forward. … I was really impressed with how unselfish they were today, moving the puck around. I think you can tell from the scorer’s sheet with all the different players that showed up on there.”

After Alexis Haycraft’s hat-trick sealing goal in the final moments of the second period, the Cardinals put together two more scores in the third and final period of play. Gustafson and Bettin scored the final two goals for Fairmont with 13 minutes and one minute remaining in the game, respectively, with assists from Alexis Haycraft on the first goal and Gustafson on the second.

Fairmont continues its season this coming Monday with a contest against Windom at the Martin County Arena. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.