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WORTHINGTON -- After a lengthy Christmas layoff, the Worthington Trojans boys hockey team was sluggish Thursday night against the visiting Fairmont Cardinals.
Before Thursday, the Trojans hadn’t played a game since Dec. 20, and though head coach Tyler Nienkerk said the team had some good practices leading up to the clash with FHS, the boys were unable to sustain their edge.
Worthington led at one point in the second period, 3-2. It was 2-2 at the end of the first period.
It ended 10-4.
But Fairmont outscored WHS 6-2 in the second period, and when the Trojans sorely needed to make a run in the third, they didn’t.
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“We were lucky to be tied up, actually, at the end of the first,” said Nienkerk. “They outworked us. They won every battle. The effort was poor, I think everybody knows it. We didn’t play up to our ability tonight. It was a long break for us.”
The loss dropped Worthington to 1-4 on the season. Fairmont, which hadn’t scored more than four goals in a game before Thursday, is 2-6.
The Cardinals scored first, on a goal only one and a half minutes into the first period, on a shot into the right corner of the net by junior forward Luke Kester. Worthington answered with 11:47 showing on the clock as sophomore Anthony Jimenez scored, on a Dylan Dykstra assist.
Worthington took the lead again at 5:30 on another Kester shot, unassisted. But the Trojans tied it up with just 15.2 seconds left in the period on a shot near the sideboards by junior Dawson Duangapai.
The second period is when the WHS defense wilted. But not before an unassisted goal by the Trojans’ Trenton Chantharath made the score 3-2 in the home team’s favor.
Fairmont scored the next three goals -- a deflected shot into the net at 13:46 by Jace Teveldal, another goal at 10:17 by Kester, and another by Teveldal at 7:10.
Kester’s goal was almost a fluke. Worthington goalkeeper Collin Ahlers stopped a shot point blank in front of him, but he didn’t see the puck at his feet. Kester came along and punched it in.
That goal put Fairmont in front, 5-3. Worthington made it 5-4 with a Chantharath shot with 6:37 remaining in the second period.
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But the Cards pulled away at that point, getting goals by Kaiden Musser, Nate Rakness and Barret Scholl to bring the score to 8-4 heading into the third period.
Rakness scored twice in the third for the six-point FHS win.
The Cardinals scored 10 times on 31 shot attempts. Worthington attempted 24 shots.
“I thought we had some good practices. But it’s not like playing,” said Nienkerk. “We got a little bit away from our identity, got a little too individualistic. We didn’t play our team game.”
Fairmont 2 6 2 -- 10
Worthington 2 2 0 -- 4
