ABOVE: Defenseman Axel Chapman pursues Worthington puck carrier Ryker Thier at the blue line in a Big South Conference hockey game Thursday night in Fairmont.

Fairmont — The Fairmont Cardinals boys hockey team’s (0-10) overtime struggles continued as the Worthington Trojans handed Fairmont its third overtime loss of the season, securing a 6-5 victory in a Big South Conference game Thursday night.

“We came out slow that first period,” said Fairmont head hockey coach Dylan VanBrocklin. “The team’s thoughts were because we didn’t have practice yesterday, we had a tough game Tuesday. Kind of didn’t get to work on anything yesterday, so started off slow. And then second, they called themselves out for that. So I think they realized we have a chance to win. They quit being negative on themselves, and they pulled themselves out of it. I think that’s where that energy came from. And then our captain doesn’t hit very often, and he had a really nice hit.

So I think that got him going pretty good. I’d say just the combination of those is where they started to come back out of it.”

Leading the Cardinals in scoring was Gavin Kester with two goals, while Noah Meixell, Klay Beemer and Dayton Draper each added a goal. Goaltender Kaden Olson saved 29 shots on net.

The first period was a defensive stalemate between the teams. The physical play of Worthington kept Fairmont off the board and vice versa. At the midway point of the frame, Preston Cepress got his stick on a puck that bounced off the Trojan goaltender for the Cardinals’ first real scoring chance of the period. Worthington gained a man advantage courtesy of a roughing penalty with five minutes left on the clock, but the Cardinals’ penalty kill unit shut the Trojans down, keeping it level at 0-0. With just under three minutes left in the frame, Beemer got behind the defense but banked the puck off the side of the net. A defensive breakdown by the Cardinals forced goaltender Olson to make a tough save on a shot coming from the right circle. The period came to an end with the Cardinals outshooting Worthington 13-9 but the score remained 0-0.

Opening the second period was the same stalemate up until a five-minute major for an elbow to head by Caleb Meyer gave the Worthington Trojans the main advantage for five minutes. This time the Trojans capitalized on the power play to make the score 1-0 with 10 minutes left on the clock. The power play of the Trojans continued to work, capitalizing yet again with seven minutes remaining in the period before a goal by Meixell lit the lamp for the first time for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals struck again with 5:56 remaining in the period, this time by Kester, who broke through the Trojan defense and was able to find the back of the net with 1:20 left in the period.

The Cardinals found themselves with a five-on-three advantage coming off of a tripping penalty and then a roughing penalty by the Trojans, but despite being down two men to the penalties the Trojans found a way to get loose behind the Cardinals power unit and find the back of the net for a shorthanded goal going up 3-2 heading into the third.

The third period got off to a bit of a slow start, with the first goal coming at just under the five-minute mark off of the stick of Kester, assisted by Tyler Kurt, tying things up at 3-3. The Trojans responded with nine minutes left on the clock as defenseman Trenton Chantharat found the back of the net to put the Trojans back on top 4-3. A holding penalty gave the Trojans another chance on the power play, and they extended their lead with the power-play goal from Anthony Jimenez to go up 5-3.

Less than 30 seconds later, the Cardinals cut into the lead with the goal coming from Klay Beemer, assisted by Jase Meade. With 3:15 seconds left in the final frame, Draper found the back of the net to tie things up 5-5.

Regulation time wasn’t enough to determine a winner in this outing. The Cardinals often seemed promising, but a chaotic breakout by the Trojans and a big collision in front of the net provided the goal they needed to secure the victory, this time coming off the stick of Spenser Nickel, assisted by Jimenez, taking the win 6-5 and dropping the Cardinals to 0-10.

Fairmont heads to Marshall on Tuesday at 7 p.m.