TROJANS BOYS HOCKEY: Leach leads WHS past Fairmont

WORTHINGTON — Scoring a trio of unassisted goals in the third period Thursday night, the Worthington Trojans broke open a 1-1 deadlock after two frames and claimed a 4-1 victory over the Fairmont Cardinals in a non-conference boys’ hockey game.

Worthington improves to 2-9 overall, as both of the Trojans’ wins this year have come against the Cardinals (1-11-1). Worthington earned a 7-2 victory at Fairmont back on Dec. 13.

“We skated hard and played pretty well in both the first and third periods,” Worthington assistant coach Chris Huls said after the game. “The second period was a little rough for us, but the guys responded well and got some things going in the third period. It was definitely nice to get a win at home.”

Levi Leach scored a pair of goals to pace the Trojans, while Andrew Johnson and Kody Honius each found the back of the net once for Worthington.

Rylan Scholtes was solid as the Trojans’ goaltender, stopping all but one of the Cardinals’ 23 shots for a total of 22 saves. Half of those saves came in the first period, as Scholtes and Worthington’s defense set the tone early.

The Trojans effectively killed a Cardinals’ power play within the first three minutes of the game and scored almost immediately after becoming full strength.

Leach got behind Fairmont’s defense for a breakaway opportunity and snuck the puck past goalie Colton Cunning (27 saves) for the game’s first score at the 13:45 mark of the opening period.

Leading 1-0, the Trojans continued to apply pressure and got a total of 14 shots on goal in the frame. Honius, Nick Newman and Jacob Oberloh were among the players with scoring chances for Worthington.

Fairmont also had its fair share of opportunities, but Scholtes was steady in net and kept the score unchanged heading into the second period.

Worthington was unable to extend its lead, but did come close a few times. Leach and Honius each had shots go off the post to highlight the Trojans’ scoring chances.

Fairmont had multiple opportunities in front of Worthington’s net and broke through with a goal with 7:40 showing on the clock. Joe Nordquist skated from left to right before snapping in a wrist shot to even the score at one apiece.

“We got outplayed in the second period, that’s for sure,” Huls said. “Give Fairmont credit, but we didn’t play well. We might have got a little bit lazy and needed to get fired up in the third period — and we did.”

Johnson scooped up a loose puck and fired a wide-open wrist shot into the net to give Worthington a 2-1 lead with 10:59 to play in the third period.

Honius then stole the puck in Fairmont’s zone and snapped a wrist shot past Cunning for a goal to push the Trojans’ lead to 3-1 with 7:18 remaining.

Leach capped the scoring with his second goal at the 2:46 mark, corralling a loose puck at center ice and making a couple of nifty moves before rifling a shot into the net to make it 4-1.

Scholtes and the Trojans’ defense thwarted any potential scoring opportunities for the Cardinals the rest of the way to seal the three-goal win for Worthington.

“I think we played with more energy in the third period and were able to score three goals,” Huls said. “Rylan also did a nice job in net and helped keep us in control after we took the lead. It was a good win overall.”

Worthington, which had a total of 31 shots on goal, hosts Sioux Center, Iowa Monday night.

Fairmont 0 1 0 — 1

Worthington 1 0 3 — 4

Girls Fairmont 7, Worthington 1

FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Cardinals outshot the Worthington Trojans 53-10 Thursday night to claim a 7-1 victory in a non-conference girls’ hockey game.

Worthington’s Ashley Thompson scored her first career high school goal two minutes and 33 seconds into the second period. Betsy Thompson and Shelby Veen were credited with the assists for the Trojans.

Worthington (0-12) hosts Morris/Benson Area Jan. 19.

WORTHINGTON 4,

FAIRMONT 1

Fairmont 0 1 0 — 1

Home 1 0 3 — 4

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period: 1. Worthington, Leach (unassisted), 13:45. Penalties: Molden, Worthington (tripping), 15:51; Shreiner, Worthington (tripping), 10:22.

Second Period: 2. Fairmont, Nordquist (unas-sisted), 7:40. Penalties: Meier, Worthington (tripping), 13:18; Arens, Fairmont (holding), 10:11; Engstrom, Fairmint (hooking), 6:53; Meier, Worthington (interference), 5:01; Oberloh, Worthington (roughing), 5:01.

Third Period: 3. Worthington, Johnson (unas-sisted), 10:59; 4. Worthington, Honius (unassisted), 7:18; 5. Worthington, Leach (unassisted), 2:46. Penalties: Honius, Worthington (tripping), 15:49; Arens, Fairmont (tripping), 14:55; Mitchell, Fairmont (elbowing), 10:40; Heidebrink, Worthington (interfer-ence), 9:38; Heidebrink, Worthington (elbowing), 5:03; Engstrom, Fairmont (tripping), 4:21.

Shots On-Goal: Fairmont 15-5-11—31; Worthington 11-7-6—24.

Power-Play Opportunities: Fairmont 0 of 7; Worthington 0 of 5.

Goalies: Fairmont, Cunning, 31 shots, 27 saves. Worthington, Scholtes, 24 shots, 23 saves.

Tags: sports, prep, hockey, boys, trojans, girls