Staff photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont's Dayton Draper looks towards the net during Saturday's contest against La Crescent-Hokah at Martin County Arena.

FAIRMONT – The La Crescent-Hokah boys hockey team scored three consecutive goals on two different occasions during Saturday afternoon’s 6-3 victory over Fairmont at Martin County Arena.

Despite an early goal from the Cardinals, LCH notched scores in the remaining first and opening second period to take the 3-1 edge. Fairmont rattled another strike late in the second period to bring the contest closer, but another surge from the Lancers ultimately put the game away late.

“You have a couple of little breakdowns, and the whole thing turns,” Fairmont co-head coach Paul Carlson said. “From in the game to struggling to get back into the game, that’s the joys of hockey sometimes.”

LCH started off with a focused effort on the offensive side of the ice, peppering Fairmont goaltender Brandon Hector with seven early shots on goal, two of which came from Benjamin Schoepel in the 14-minute mark of the opening period.

The Cardinals responded with nifty passing of their own a minute later. After gaining back control of the puck, Fairmont was able to firmly execute its first score of the day from Preston Cepress. Gavin Kester roped behind the net, placing the puck right in front of an awaiting Cepress for a quick one-timer.

Fairmont continued to maintain possession for the next seven minutes, controlling the tempo of the game while still firing some shots on goal towards Lancers’ goalie Charles Wieser.

This puck control didn’t last much longer. LCH continued to penetrate past the blue line of Fairmont, swelling closer and closer to the Cardinal’s defensive line.

The Lancers finally took advantage of this position after Turner Boettcher’s shot at Hector bounced off the padding into the stick of Kole Trapp for a quick equalizer. Asher Voves kept the momentum going for his team after firing a strike from the left side of the ice to give LCH a lead they would never let up the rest of the way.

One more point was added to their advantage during the first five minutes of the second period after Schoepel finally got through for a score, receiving passes from Cooper Hill and Boettcher to take the 3-1 lead.

However, Fairmont would respond in an impressive fashion, finishing off the last five minutes of the second period playing some of its best hockey of the afternoon.

It took a relentless effort from the Cardinals to bring the game to a one-score affair, but following two shots on goal from Cepress, Dayton Draper squeezed the puck past the line with two minutes on the scoreboard.

“That was a good scrum in front of the net,” Carlson said. “You just kept fighting, and it turned out in our favor.”

The Lancers responded again to this score from Fairmont with three more of their own to open the final period. With 12:12 to go, Cooper Johnston sliced in from the right side with a straight shot at the net before capitalizing with a score. Cooper Hill tacked on two more during the next four minutes to put the game out of reach.

Klay Beemer scored Fairmont’s final goal of the day on a breakaway chance from center ice. The senior forward swiped the puck with a one-on-one chance with Wieser at the net, drawing one past the netminder with one minute left.

Fairmont (5-10) will host Worthington on Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. This is the final regular-season home game of the year for Fairmont at Martin County Arena.