New Ulm takes down Fairmont in home opener
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FAIRMONT - Fairmont Area girls soccer head coach Matt Nielsen was confident and upbeat during his postgame speech. Rather than dwelling on the Cardinals’ 4-2 defeat to New Ulm at Jeffery Kot Fields, he looked to celebrate what went well during the 80 minutes, highlighting the goals from Mollie Leiding and Olive Kawecki as big positives.
"Even in a loss, there are things to celebrate," Nielsen said. "We really celebrated those things [goals from Mollie Leiding and Olive Kawecki], and I was really happy with that."
It wasn't the outcome Nielsen wanted to see. Dropping to the Eagles moves Fairmont to 1-2 on the young season after picking up their previous loss to La Crescent-Hokah earlier on Monday night.
But Nielsen knows this team and its determination. It's a group that faced adversity during the beginning of last season, similarly dropping its opening two games to La Crescent-Hokah and New Ulm. That time, by a combined score of 10-0.
The year will continue to progress. Rotations will be fine-tuned. Newer faces will get more experience. And the Cardinals will continue building the necessary on-field chemistry to succeed. It's only a matter of time.
"We're still figuring it out. Depending on where you were watching tonight, we put Mollie [Leiding] in three spots. We put Olive [Kawecki] in two spots, and Abbie Simpson in some different spots," Nielsen said. "We're still figuring out who goes where. You'd think a coach would know that, but you can't figure out how the kids all gel together. We're still working on that, and I know that they're resilient."
Fairmont's offensive attack during the first 20 minutes was exactly what Nielsen wants to see. The Cardinals were passing well between the middle and outside parts of the field while stringing plays together.
It all came together at 31:50 with a connection from Frankie Martin to Leiding. Martin found possession on the right corner. The midfielder floated a crossing pass that found her teammate near the opposite crossbar with a wide opening.
Leiding, with ease, jumped up and collided her head with the ball, ricocheting the attempt deep into the net for an early Cardinal cushion. Nielsen said the pass and finish from his two seniors was as good as it gets.
But everything changed 11 minutes later. With 19:32 to go before intermission, the Eagles strung together their own impressive connection between Mira Dorschner and Molly Johnson, reflecting what Fairmont did early on.
Johnson's finish on a crossing Dorschner delivery did more than equalize the contest in Nielsen's eyes. It tightened up his team. The quick, decisive passing he previously saw began to fade against New Ulm's compact middle alignment.
"We kind of got a little panicky," Nielsen said. "I talk about zones on offense. A five-yard pass is within zone one. 10 yards is zone two, and 15 yards is zone three. If you do zone three passes, or further, you're creating 50/50 balls. We went from zone one and occasional zone two to all zone three."
The Eagles struck again swiftly just one minute later. Once again deep in Fairmont's penalty box, Johnson's initial shot on goal was quickly deflected by Cardinal goalkeeper Addison Folkerts, who finished with nine saves.
Mallory Novak found herself with the ball right at center net, chipping in an attempt that went over the senior keeper and delivering New Ulm's lead. It was a lead that the Eagles held onto the rest of the night.
Either team traded a few shots on goal in the second half. But nothing went past either keeper. That was until Grace Barie drew a penalty kick on the right side of the field at 12 minutes.
Piper Kapolczynski took the attempt with confidence. Centering her shot, Kapolczynski booted a rocket to the right side that Folkert's couldn't corral. A deflating moment that seemed to put things out of reach.
Kapolczynski scored once more five minutes later to seal things for sure. Dorschner picked up her second assist of the contest with a pass to the New Ulm captain.
Kawecki got on the board with a long strike with two minutes to go. Using an assist from fellow freshman Bethenny Long, Kawecki strung a confident shot to make it a two-score affair. But the damage was already done.
Fairmont won't play another contest until next Tuesday. The Cardinals travel to St. James to take on Wings United. Kickoff is set to start at 7:00 p.m.