Leiding scores twice, puts Fairmont Area in section championship
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FAIRMONT - Avery Nelson made Monday night's Section 2A Semifinal match against No. 1 Fairmont Area a little interesting.
No. 5 Stewartville's offense hadn't gotten much going in the first 65 minutes. Just a handful of looks at the net had been carefully saved by Cardinals goalkeeper Addison Folkerts. With 14 minutes left in the second half, Nelson changed everything on one of her few breakaways, driving deep into the right penalty area before firing across the net and in. Fairmont's lead got cut to one.
While No. 5 Stewartville gave the Cardinals everything it could at Jeffery Kot Field, head coach Matt Nielsen's team held strong in the remaining regulation, using both of Mollie Leiding's first- and second-half goals to power their 2-1 victory. The win advances Fairmont to Wednesday's Section 2A Championship against No. 2 Cannon Falls. Kickoff at Austin's Wescott Sports Complex is at 5:00 p.m. The Cardinals return to the section championship for the first time since 2024. There, a 14-4-1 Fairmont fell to Pine Island/Zumbrota-Mazeppa 4-0.
"We were attacking the whole time but just couldn't find lanes," Nielsen said. "They were playing a 4-4-2 alignment, and it was so compact in between our lines that it was very tough to find balls. ...Feeling pretty fortunate with a win tonight and very happy for the seniors to end on a winning note in their last game here."
Both Cardinal goals took place within the opening 10 minutes of each half. Fairmont's scoring started with Abbie Simpson dribbling down the right side. Simpson's cross towards the middle found Leiding at the top of the penalty area. One quick kick from the senior put the Cardinals up one at 36:29.
Leiding doubled Fairmont's advantage at 30:10 in the second half. The midfielder did a little more work with her dribbles to free herself this time. Collecting the ball on the left side, Leiding took two more strides before handily pushing the ball past goalkeeper Morgyn Manion.
The Tigers handled Fairmont's constant pressure outside of those two snapshots. Manion saved the other nine shots from Nielsen's offense. Even with the Cardinals owning possession in both halves, Stewartville found multiple ways to clear chances and stop any momentum.
"We weren't finding a lot up top," Nielsen said. "We were getting crosses, but we were unable to drive the line and get anything back up and into the box. They just took that away. With the goalkeeper, they had eight bodies back there, or sometimes nine, and then dropped Nelson up top and waited for the ball. They were jam-packed. ... and they played really well."
Fairmont's defense held the Tigers in check to maintain the lead. Folkerts collected five saves with a handful of runouts from her net position, disarming any pressure Stewartville threw her way. The rest of the Cardinals backline limited consistent possession from their opponent. Fairmont has held its opponent to one score or less in 14 straight contests. Monday was another example of Nielsen's defense impacting the final result.