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FAIRMONT - Dodge County made the 120-mile trip to Martin County Arena in Fairmont worth the time spent on the road Saturday morning.

Forward Darby Dodds delivered a game-best four goals, while forward Kortney Kleber tallied one goal and four assists to power the youthful Wildcats to a 7-0 non-league hockey victory over the Fairmont Area Cardinals.

"That tells the real story of today's game," said Cardinal head coach Scott Kuhl as he pointed to his shots-on-goal chart. " ... It's one thing to get outshot 75-to-8, but if you allow the other team to shoot from point-blank range, it doesn't matter how good your goalie is before the puck eventually is going to go in."

Kuhl's words proved as true as Dodds' slapshot after taking a look at the final numbers.

Fairmont Area junior defensive stalwart Jess Wiederhoeft, who's one of the state's top goaltenders, stonewalled Dodge County on all 26 of its first-period shots to keep the game a scoreless tie heading into the first intermission.

Wiederhoeft utilized her glove, stick, pads and skates to amass a staggering 68 saves on the game. But even her incredible performance, combined with defender Alexa Mowery's numerous deflections, could not halt the hard-charging Wildcats.

Forward Emily Gunderson, an eighth-grade phenom, and Kleber, who's only a sophomore, combined on a give-and-go play to record the game's initial goal only 23 seconds into the 17-minute middle frame.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Dodds - who's also an eighth-grade phenom - needed only 32 seconds to produce her first goal and double the Wildcats' lead to 2-0. Defender Rose Johnson intercepted the puck near mid-ice and spotted Dodds for a left-wing burst-and-blast just inside the left pipe.

Forward Dana Rasmussen, who's a seventh-grader, made a crossover move and flicked a right-to-left laser to extend Dodge County's margin to 3-0 at the 6:12 mark. Defender Ashley Lushinsky's perfect crossing pass off a rush set up Rasmussen's lamplighter.

Unfortunately, the goal was the first of back-to-back shorthanded scores by the visitors from the communities of Kasson-Mantorville, Byron, Hayfield, Triton and Dover-Eyota.

Only 38 seconds later, Rasmussen traded roles and worked around the back of the cage before finding Kleber for an ice-hugging goal with Fairmont Area on the power play.

Dodds later tipped in Kleber's ricochet off Wiederhoeft's pads with 4:05 remaining in the second period to widen the Wildcats' edge to 5-0.

Dodds found the net on a nifty wraparound goal around the left pipe off a double-assist from Gunderson and Kleber with 10:53 remaining in the third frame.

Dodds then chipped in a high-hopping goal off Kleber's fourth assist during the Wildcats' fourth and final power-play chance with 5:25 left in regulation.

Cardinal forward Johanna Hinz generated half of her lineup's eight shots-on-goal on the game.

Fairmont Area (0-5, 0-1 South Central) travels to Worthington on Tuesday night, while Dodge County (5-6) hits the road to Northfield tonight.

DC 0-5-2-7

FA 0-0-0-0

SCORING PLAYS

1st Period

No scoring.

2nd Period

DC - Emily Gunderson (Kortney Kleber), 16:37.

DC - Darby Dodds (Rose Johnson), 16:05.

DC - Dana Rasmussen (Ashley Lushinsky), sh., 6:12.

DC - Kleber (Rasmussen), sh., 5:34.

DC - Dodds (Kleber), 4:05.

3rd Period

DC - Dodds (Gunderson, Kleber), 10:53.

DC - Dodds (Kleber), pp., 5:25.

Saves: Anna Hunter (DC) 3-3-2-8; Jess Wiederhoeft (FA) 26-24-18-68.

Shots-on-goal: Dodge County 26-29-20-75; Fairmont Area 3-3-2-8.

Penalties: Dodge County 3 for 6 minutes; Fairmont Area 4 for 8 minutes.

Power plays: Dodge County 1-for-4; Fairmont Area 0-for-3.