ABOVE: Fairmont defenseman Tyler Kurt avoids a check from a Winona defenseman in a nonconference boys hockey game Saturday in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT–The Fairmont Cardinals (0-6) boys hockey team fell 9-0 against the Winona Winhawks in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon. Puck possession and zone clearances were key issues for the Cardinals in the outing.

The goalkeeping for Fairmont put up a solid performance, saving 28 of 37 shots on goal, but the ability to clear the zone was a major factor in the outcome of the game.

“There’s a whole bunch of chances that we had to break the puck out,” said Fairmont boys hockey head coach Dylan VanBrocklin. “But we’d either make a bad pass or we’d take a little bit too long. And then instead of getting the puck out and headed the other direction, we’d be stuck in our zone. That happened way too much. So I’d say that’s our biggest thing to work on is we got to figure out how to break the puck out consistently and not get stuck in our zone.

Because once we get the puck out, then we have the speed to do stuff. We just got to get it out.”

The first-period scoring opened quickly at the 15:48 mark when Winona’s Patrick Curtin scored assisted by defenseman Myron St George and Jacob Lange giving Winona a 1-0 lead. A trip by Dayton Draper gave the Winhawks their first powerplay of the game on which they capitalized with a goal coming from Myles Bruemmer assisted by Jack Jerowski. The Cardinals got a chance with the man advantage with 4:05 left in the opening frame but could not find the back of the net closing out the period down 2-0 being outshot 13-2.

Winona wasted no time reopening the scoring ,netting a goal in the first two minutes this time off the stick of Aven Prodzinski, assisted by Paxton Raymond, to go up 3-0. Just over three minutes later the Cardinals got their second chance on the power play but again were unable to take advantage. With 9:54 on the clock, Prodzinski struck again, extending the lead to 4-0. Three minutes later the Winhawks scored once more, this time the goal coming from Kaden Grass. Despite another power play opportunity, the Cardinals could not close the gap and gave up two more goals ending the middle frame down 7-0.

The Cardinal goaltender, Kaden Olson, kept the Winhawks from adding to the lead for the majority of the third, but the struggles with clearing the zone inevitably caught up to the Cardinal defense, which allowed two more in the back of the net, securing a 9-0 victory for Winona.

The Cardinals’ next game is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2 against Windom.