Windom Area rallies past Fairmont
Jason Wilcox - Sentinel Sports WriterArticle Photos
FAIRMONT - The Fairmont Area girls hockey team held a 3-0 lead after one period of play Tuesday night in Fairmont.
However three Windom Area players ensured that lead would not last.
Josie Higley, Shelby Veenker and Brandy Kerkaert combined for nine of the 10 Eagle points en route to a 6-4 nonconference comeback over the red-and-white at Martin County Arena.
"We've been looking for that (effort) all year long. ... I think the game was a game of bounces and we did not get those bounces," said Cardinal head coach Scott Kuhl.
The bounces did go the way of the Cardinals in the first period via goals from Kallie Breitbarth, Lexie Mowery and Johanna Hinz.
Breitbarth scored first at 13:22 via key assists from Hinz and Michaela Ziemer. The pass from Hinz guided Breitbarth down center ice and she scored low glove past Eagle goalie Brooklyn Drahota for the 1-0 lead.
Mowery then blasted an unassisted one-timer past Drahota from just past the left circle at 8:25, before Hinz snuck the puck past Drahota on the low stick side with the Cardinals on the power play at 4:46. Marissa Clancey collected an assist on the play.
However the second period proved to be all Eagles.
Veenker started the scoring with an unassisted goal at 14:21 by beating Cardinal goalie Jess Wiederhoeft on the low stick side, cutting the visitors' deficit to 3-1.
Kerkaert then scored from Kylie Willard at 12:27 with a shot from the right circle that got through cleanly to the high glove side.
Higley then knotted the score with 13 seconds to play in the middle frame via a feed from Kerkaert as she convered on a shot down the middle that deflected in off Wiederhoeft's pads for the 3-3 tie after two periods.
The Eagles continued their scoring streak with 15:15 left in the final frame as Higley scored on the low glove side via a quick wrist shot from Kerkaert.
However the Cardinals broke their scoring drought with 13:22 left in regulation as Breitbarth, who earlier left the game due to injury, returned to score her second goal of the game.
Breitbarth skated in on Drahota and fired a low shot that got past the goalie and an Eagle defenseman's loose stick for the unassisted tying goal.
But the visitors had the final say, scoring what proved to be the gamewinner at 11:57.
Veenker, unassisted, converted on an off balance swing to Wiederhoeft's glove side for the 5-4 lead.
Higley completed her hat trick and tallied an insurance goal with 7:49 to play with an end-to-end rush down the left side of the ice and scoring on the glove side.
Drahota ended up with 41 saves, while Wiederhoeft netted 29 stops.
Fairmont Area (0-4, 0-1) plays host to Dodge County at 1 p.m. Saturday at Martin County Arena in Fairmont.
Windom 0 3 3 - 6
Fairmont 3 0 1 - 4
SCORING PLAYS
1st Period
FA - Kallie Breitbarth (Johanna Hinz, Michaela Ziemer), 13:22.
FA - Lexie Mowery (unassisted), 8:25.
FA - Hinz (Marissa Clancey), 4:46, pp.
2nd Period
WA - Shelby Veenker (unassisted), 14:21.
WA - Brandy Kerkaert (Kylie Willard), 12:27.
WA - Josie Higley (Kerkaert), 0:13.
3rd Period
WA - Higley (Kerkaert), 15:15.
FA - Breitbarth (unassisted), 13:22.
WA - Veenker (unassisted), 11:57.
WA - Higley (Veenker), 7:49.
Shots on goal: Fairmont Area 17-16-12-45; Windom Area 12-11-12-35.
Saves: Jess Wiederhoeft (FA) 12-8-9-29. Brooklyn Drahota (WA) 14-16-11-41.
Penalties: Fairmont Area 3 for 6 minutes; Windom Area 3 for 6 minutes.
Power plays: Fairmont Area 1-3; Windom Area 0-3.
Boys Hockey
Waseca 3, Fairmont Area 2 - Two early third period goals enabled the Bluejays to score a 3-2 South Central Conference win over the Cardinals on Tuesday in Waseca.
Blake Malecha scored for Waseca 1:28 into the third period, before Ricky Spangler added the gamewinner with 2:53 expired.
The Cardinals scored first as Kellen Fausch scored from Richie Haycraft at 6:37 of the first period, before Brady McIntosh tied the game for the hosts from Pat O'Neal at 11:31.
Dan Cole's goal from Cody Jacobsen at 6:11 of the middle frame gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after the second intermission.
Ryan Rivers made 35 saves for the visitors.
Fairmont Area (1-4, 0-2) hits the road to Sleepy Eye on Thursday.
Waseca's junior varsity scored a 3-0 win over the Cardinals.
Fairmont 1 1 0 - 2
Waseca 1 0 2 - 3
SCORING PLAYS
1st Period
FA - Kellen Fausch (Richie Haycraft), 6:37.
W - Brad McIntosh (Pat O'Neal), 11:31.
2nd Period
FA - Dan Cole (Cody Jacobsen), 6:11.
3rd Period
W - Blake Malecha (unassisted), 1:28.
W - Ricky Spangler (unassisted), 2:53.
Saves: Ryan Rivers (FA) 35.
Penalties: Fairmont Area 7 for 14 minutes; Waseca 5 for 10 minutes.
Power plays: Fairmont Area 0-for-5; Waseca 1-for-7.




