Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Gavin Kester looks towards the net during the first period of Thursday night's showdown against Marshall at Martin County Arena. The Cardinals fell to the Tigers 11-1, dropping to 4-6 on the winter season.

FAIRMONT – Marshall’s puck possession and tenacity at the net proved to be too much for the Fairmont boys hockey team during Thursday night’s 11-1 win at Martin County Arena. The Tigers used 10 first and third period goals to propel its third victory of the 2025-2026 season.

One of the biggest challenges Cardinal head coaches Paul Carlson and Scott Nuss knew entering the contest was Marshall’s ability to stay aggressive on puck deflections and rebounds around the net.

The Tigers rang true to their play style immediately. A shot from Nate Drown was initially deflected by Fairmont goalkeeper Brandon Hector, placing the puck in front of Brendan Price’s stick for an easy score one minute into the game.

“They saw the ice very well,” Nuss said. “A lot of their goals were somebody being wide and in the middle, trying to get it inside to the middle guy. If he didn’t get the goal, now there is a rebound landing there and someone can crash to get it,”

Fairmont responded less than two minutes later with an equalizing strike of their own. Defensemen Axel Chapman received the puck on the left side of the blue line. A quick wrist flick from the senior and the Cardinals found themselves knotted at one score apiece.

“I am excited that he got that goal because he’s a kid that will sacrifice and stay back, not worried about getting a goal for himself, he’s worried about helping his team,” Carlson said. “It’s neat that he got rewarded for that.”

Price completed his hat trick during the following eight minutes of the period. The Tigers used a handful of crisp passes inside the offensive zone with 10:25 left to play, finding Price at center ice to capitalize on the unaligned Cardinal defense.

He finished off his scoring night four minutes later with his team being short handed. After a misfire on the outside shell of Fairmont’s power play, Price took advantage of the open ice with another score for the Tigers.

Marshall tacked on one more goal with seven seconds left in the first period, using another quick-transition chance with Easton Greenwood delivering the final strike before intermission.

“They [Marshall] just move quickly all the time,” Nuss said. “They are going to get to open space, they are going to get to the puck quickly and they are going to get to our player carrying the puck quickly.”

Fairmont came into the second period with a heightened intensity on both sides of the ice, stifling the Tiger offensive pursuit while gathering a handful of dangerous shots on goal. Both teams traded power play chances without any success in drawing blood.

However, with four minutes to play in the period, Marshall began to slowly break from Fairmont’s defensive attack, again using its speed and athleticism to generate open lanes on the ice.

The persistence paid off with just under three minutes on the clock. Carson Kopitski peeled his eyes towards the net while skating on the right side. The senior quickly found Drown, slicing with his stick ready to fire and ultimately put it past the goal line.

Marshall continued this momentum with an immediate scoring play to begin the third period. This time it was Kopitski getting in on the action, sliding in front of the net from the left side to whistle one past the Cardinal defensive line.

The Tigers tacked on five additional goals over the following 13 minutes of play, including two more strikes from Kopitski that earned him a hat trick.

“That’s kind of the game of hockey, momentum shift is a powerful thing for that game,” Carlson said.

Fairmont (4-6) will continue its season next Tuesday with a road trip to Redwood Valley. Marshall (3-10) travels to Worthington next Monday to take on the Trojans. Both games start at 7 p.m.