Cardinals girls hockey season begins. | News, sports, jobs

ABOVE: Front row, from left: Coach Mickey McDonough, Ilana Moeller, Charli Clow, Mariel Parish, Francesca Martin, Avery Kurt, Haper Artz, Kennedy Murphy, Maya Earhart, Corinn Wells, Brittany Lopau, Kate Hagen, Alexis Sundeen. Back row, from left: Coach Aaron Haycraft, Alvin Clow, Aspen Wickert, Abigail Sundeen, Kynlee Beemer, Lauren Bettin, Addison Folkerts, Maia Goerndt, Joslyn Meyer, Alexis Haycraft, Halyn Haycraft, Carly Gustafson, Talyor Truesdell, Giulia Severa, Kylie Flanagan, Madison Sokoloski, coach Josh Meyer. Not pictured: Paige Hartwig, Hayden Olson, Nani Rosario, Coach Ryan Parish, Adylen Laven (manager), Piper Crookston (manager), Evie Folkerts (manager) and Lily Truesdell (manager).

FAIRMONT – The Fairmont Cardinals girls hockey team is back in action, currently sitting at 1-1 and coming off a 7-18 record last season. The coaching staff's primary focus is on player development and making sure everyone they can reach falls in love with the sport of hockey.

With a team of 30 girls, there is a bit of a new team feel, with 11 of the 30 being returning players. Of those eleven players, four are now seniors in Abigail Sundeen, IIana Moeller, Brittany Lopau and Charli Clow.

“These girls go out and have as much fun as possible,” said Fairmont head coach Aaron Haycraft. “We're going to work as hard as we can and we're going to be the best teammates we can be.”

The Cardinals are versatile at every position, which allows them to look at different situations. The team does its best in every training session to promote player development and overall performance.

'I want everyone to get better every day' Haycraft said. “Every day is an opportunity to get better, and we put a lot of effort into it every practice, worked really hard, so that we can achieve that goal.”

The team is off to a solid start after a 3-0 win over New Prague and a hard-fought battle against Mankato West, where they lost 5-3. This Cardinal team does not give up, but continues to fight until the buzzer sounds in the final period.

Fostering a love for the game keeps the program growing, and that has become a mantra for Haycraft.

“My expectation for this year is that each of these players and families will have a positive hockey experience this year,” Haycraft said.

That desire to have fun and build the program also involves a lot of hard work that the team is more than up for.

“They work very, very hard.” Haycraft said. “We are very impressed with the pace of the training, the intensity of the training, the formation of a team and being good teammates. I am so very proud of them.”

While the coaches aren't focused on the win-loss column, the Cardinals are poised for a solid year of talent and progress from the 11 returning players. The Cardinals look forward to the 19 new players joining the high school program, coupled with the hard work they put in every day to show results on and off the ice.

Heading into their third game of the season, the Cardinals will take on Waseca in the home opener on Tuesday at 7 p.m.