“I think overall we’ve had a pretty positive attitude,” New Ulm head coach Derek Johnson said. “We’re just taking it game by game and we just want to see the growth each game, and so far I have seen the growth in each game. Just looking to continue it going on so that when we get to January, February, we’re hitting on all cylinders.”

Special teams were critical for the Eagles in the game, as their first score came on a power-play goal by Abby Forstner in the second period, and Olson’s came shorthanded in the third period. In addition, there were 12 total penalties in the match, seven by Fairmont and five by New Ulm, so the special teams units took to the ice frequently.

“I thought they played great,” Johnson said. “We definitely put more focus on it in our last couple of practices, so I’m glad to see they looked sharp out there in both the power play and the penalty kill.”

Callie Haugen and Tristyn Wolner both had an assist in the game for New Ulm, while goaltender Ava Schmid had 27 saves. Fairmont’s Joslyn Meyer and Alexis Haycraft each had a goal, while Halyn Haycraft had an assist. Cardinals goalie Alexis Sundeen had 26 saves.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm’s Madalyn Olson sends the puck towards Fairmont goalkeeper Alexis Sundeen (31) during a Big South Conference girls hockey game Thursday at the New Ulm Civic Center.

New Ulm had the first three shots on goal of the game, but Sundeen stopped each and the Cardinals evened the attack with a few shots of their own. Olson nearly scored a short-handed goal on New Ulm’s first penalty of the game, but Sundeen deflected that one as well to keep the match scoreless. New Ulm had 1:22 of five-on-three hockey as Fairmont committed two penalties, but the Cardinals defense stood strong, killing both penalties. Meyer broke through for the first goal of the game at 15:42 of the first period, cleaning up a shot by Halyn Haycraft for a 1-0 Cardinals lead.

The Cardinals committed two more penalties early in the second, and this time New Ulm was able to capitalize on the two-player advantage as Forstner made a shot in the upper-left corner of the net, assisted by Haugen and Wolner at 2:42. However, Alexis Haycraft got the puck past Schmid unassisted at 6:09 of the second to put the Cardinals back up.

New Ulm committed a penalty late into the second period, but just 18 seconds into the third period, Olson broke away and scored her short-handed goal to tie the game up. Neither team was able to break the tie as the game headed into overtime.

With the volume of penalties and the extra time, conditioning became a factor for both teams. But Johnson was confident that his team was prepared for the situation.

“We did do a lot of conditioning in the beginning of the year,” Johnson said. “So doing that in the beginning hopefully helps out when we get to the middle and end of the season here. I try to put out my third line as much as I can to help the legs for my first and second lines, but when the game gets a little tight, first and second line is going to get most of the ice time.”

Wolner had a strong chance at a goal with just under six minutes to play, putting a shot on goal, but Sundeen made the save. Wolner again was looking to score in a breakaway situation with three minutes to play, but Sundeen again collected the shot. Alexis Haycraft took a shot off of a faceoff with under a minute left in the game but missed high, and neither team managed another shot as the game ended in a draw.

New Ulm (3-4-1) hosts Dodge County on Friday. Fairmont (5-3-2) hosts Minnesota River on Friday.