#1 WARROAD OVERWHELMS CROOKSTON GIRL’S HOCKEY 8-1

This past weekend, the number one ranked Class A Warroad Warriors, lost their first game to Benilde-St. Margaret’s 4-3 and came back on Saturday to beat the number one Class AA Gentry Academy 10-7. So some would think that would make Warroad the top overall girl’s hockey team in Minnesota. “If you believe that, I’ve got some swamp land that I’d like to sell you,” said Warroad girl’s hockey coach, David “Izzy” Marvin, before the game against the visiting Crookston Pirates, who are ranked number seven in the state Class A polls. There were a lot of points that the Pirates knew they had to follow to have a chance against Warroad, like withstanding the initial surge, getting some offensive zone time, play well defensively with all the room there is in the zones with the Olympic size rink at the Gardens and stay out of the penalty box!!

FIRST PERIOD
Warroad’s starting senior center, Rylee Bartz, who was the leading scorer in North Dakota last year with Fargo South-North, sped into the Crookston zone, turned around a Pirate defenseman, and in alone made a nice deke move that beat Pirate goalie Kambelle Freidji for a 1-0 Warroad lead 23 seconds into the game. “It wasn’t a lucky bounce for us,” said Crookston coach Emily Meyer. “We got the faceoff at center ice, took it into their zone, and they got the puck and fired a pass to a girl flying into our zone. We didn’t do our best in backchecking, and that is when Warroad does their best work, coming in on a two-on-one, and they score.”
That was a harbinger of things to come as the Warriors scored twice within 33 seconds. Both goals by Kate Johnson (Senior going to Bemidji State) on a shot about six feet out in front, and then she and Talya Hendrickson (Senior going to Bemidji State) combined on a nice goal, and six minutes into the period, it was 3-0 Warroad. “I think it was the bounces and tips that were frustrating Kambelle,” said Meyer. “She said she was having a tough time finding the puck at times as we were collapsing in front of her, making it tougher.”
Bartz (Senior going to St. Thomas) scored when Hendrickson put a pass tape to tape to Bartz, who sniped off a shot that Freiji had no chance at, and Warroad led 4-0 at the end of one period. “The first period took the wind out of our sails,” said Meyer. “It was gut-check time for us. We gave them too much time and space.”

SECOND PERIOD
The second period was almost a carbon copy of the first, as Warroad scored the first four goals again. The first was a power play goal, only the second the Pirates have given up all year, scored by Lexi Kirkeby (Senior going to Assumption College, another Division I college out east.) That’s four D-I players on Warroad’s team. Kirkeby tipped a shot from the point by Katy Comstock. An eighth grader Kaylie French scored 51 seconds later on a rebound to make it 6-0 six minutes into the second period. Warroad would score 57 seconds later when Kate Johnson scored her third of the game on a tip on a shot from Abigail Chamernick that was more of a pass looking for a tip from Chamernick, and it was 7-0. The Warrior’s eighth goal came by Hendrickson on a great pass from Kate Johnson with a minute and a half left of the period. Crookston would get their only goal with 20 seconds left in the period as Brekken Tull fed Taylor Field with a pass, and from the top of the circles, Field fired a shot past Kate Stephens, the Warroad netminder, and it was 8-1 after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The third period was running time, as the clock never stopped, and 17 minutes ran off with the game ending 8-1 and another Warroad win.
Crookston was outshot in the game 56-9 and didn’t give Crookston much-sustained possession of the puck, taking away the Pirate’s time and space. “They set the tone scoring early,” said coach Meyer. “They took the wind out of our sails from the get-go. It took us into the third period to shake it off and start competing with them and keeping them off the scoreboard.”
Crookston drops to 6-1-1 on the season with their first defeat. “Crookston had sort of a coming out year last year,” said Warroad coach Marvin. “They’re having a good year and will get better. If we meet in the Section championship again this year, they will play their sixth game in this rink!! They are in our Christmas Tournament and will play Proctor-Hermantown, Lakeville North, and ourselves again, which is four times, and then probably the semi-finals of the Section, which is here, and the championship, which would be the sixth time. Kambelle is the real deal in goal for them, and she’ll keep them in most games and give them a chance to win.”
Crookston will host Rock Ridge (Coop of Virginia and Eveleth-Gilbert) on Friday at the Crookston Sports Center at 7:30 PM (JV-5:30 PM), and it will be on VIDEO STREAM on kroxam.com.
Warroad is 8-1 on the season and with an all-D-I first line that has 39 goals amongst them in nine games!! The Warriors will host Mound-Westonka, who were ranked in the top 10 in Class A, on Friday night and then Holy Angels Academy on Saturday, and the Stars are ranked #3 in Minnesota Class A.

1st Period
0:23 – Warroad – Rylee Bartz (Abigail Chamernick)
5:26 – Warroad – Kate Johnson (Abigail Chamernick, Talya Hendrickson)
6:11 – Warroad – Kate Johnson (Talya Hendrickson)
9:16 – Warroad – Rylee Bartz (Kate Johnson)

2nd  Period
6:17 – Warroad – Lexi Kirkeby (Katy Comstock, Kayla Sandy) (PP)
6:58 – Warroad – Jaylie French (Cahlilah Lindquist, Katy Comstock)
7:52 – Warroad – Kate Johnson (Abigail Chamernick, Talya Hendrickson)
15:28 – Warroad – Talya Hendrickson (Kate Johnson)
15:40 – Crookston – Taylor Field (4) (Brekken Tull)

3rd Period
No Scoring

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