Fairmont didn’t meet much resistance among southern Minnesota opponents to start the season. The unranked Cardinals (7-1-1) went unbeaten and virtually unchallenged in their first eight games before falling 4-1 on Saturday to a Mankato East ranked No. 10 in the Class 2A coaches' poll released Sept. 19.
And now the schedule gets really tough, as Fairmont faces a four-game week that ends with contests against metro-area powers No. 4-1A Minnehaha Academy (7-1-2) on Friday and No. 2-1A Holy Family Catholic (6-2-2) on Saturday.
Helping fuel the Cardinals’ offense is Rayah Quiring, who scored four goals in a 9-0 win over Mankato Loyola on Sept. 2.
Holy Family Catholic senior Maeve Kelly has four games with three or more goals, and she’s scored 15 in all to rank among the state leaders.