The Crookston Pirates Boy’s Hockey team was looking for a bounce-back win after a 4-2 loss to Mayville-Portland on Monday night. They would get that opportunity on Tuesday when they hosted the Wahpeton-Breckenridge Blades. The Pirates exploded offensively for a 14-0 victory that saw Jack Doda and Nathan Kelly both earn hat tricks, and four other Pirates get their first career varsity goals. Crookston also had 17 skaters earn at least 1 point in the victory. “It’s a great team win after a disappointing loss,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “Nice to get so many different guys involved and everyone is feeling good now before heading into a big section game on Friday with Lake of the Woods.”
FIRST-PERIOD –
It was all Crookston from the very beginning of the night. The Pirates got off to a great start with a quick goal from Nathan Kelly on a rebound making it 1-0 Crookston at the 2:28 mark of the period. The Blades started to settle down a bit and even drew a Pirates penalty to go on the Power Play. Crookston did an excellent job killing the penalty, and shortly after, Jack Doda was able to find the back of the net on a nice backhanded shot in close to make it 2-0 Pirates. Crookston continued to put pressure on the Blades and drew a penalty late in the period to give themselves a Power Play. 30 seconds into the Power Play, for the second time in the contest, Nathan Kelly would grab a rebound and beat the goaltender giving the Pirates a 3-0 lead. “Kelly was a big difference tonight,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “We said pregame we need to score some goals on rebounds in front of the net and he did a great job of that and was big for us tonight.” The score would stay there for the next two minutes and Crookston would take a 3-0 lead into the second period. The Pirates outshot the Blades 22-3 in the first seventeen minutes of play.
SECOND-PERIOD –
Crookston would add 4 more goals in the second period to take a 7-0 lead. The first two were credited to Jack Doda, as he earned his hat trick on the night. Later in the period, Nathan Kelly would also earn his hat trick, on a Power Play goal at the 12:22 mark giving the Pirates a 6-0 lead. Then finally at the 15:48 mark, someone other than Doda or Kelly would score for Crookston, as Jackson Reese took a rebound on a shot from Blake Melsa and made it 7-0 Crookston. The Pirates would take the 7-0 lead into the final period, outshooting the Blades 42-7.
THIRD-PERIOD –
The third period was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League rules as Crookston led by 6+ goals. The running time didn’t slow down the Pirates, as they added 7 more goals, and a few Pirates were able to get their first career varsity goal. Nathan Kelly would get goal #4 on the night, and Ty Larson along with Alex Longoria would also score. Four different Pirates would also earn their first career varsity goals in Samuel Stewart, Blake Melsa, Zach Johnson, and Thor Harbott. “Seeing guys get their first career varsity goals is always fun,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “Isaac Telle was another guy that played well, and I think he is going to get one here before the season is over. Great team win and now back to work tomorrow.” The scoring finally ended, and the remaining time ran off giving Crookston a 14-0 victory over the Blades.
Jaren Bailey got the start for Crookston in goal and made 7 saves while earning his fourth win of the season and his first shutout. Andrew Withuski got the start for Wahpeton-Breckenridge and was able to stop the puck 40 times while allowing 10 goals and suffering the loss. David Beam also played in the third period for the Blades and made 7 saves while allowing 4 goals.
Crookston improves to 4-16-1 on the season and will have their last home regular-season game this Friday when they host Lake of the Woods. The puck will drop at 6:00 p.m. and the game will be carried on the KROX Live Video Stream starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 5:30 p.m. Wahpeton-Breckenridge falls to 0-19 on the season with the loss.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
| Wahp-Breck | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CROOKSTON | 3 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
1st Period
2:28 – Crox – Nathan Kelly (Jack Doda, Ty Larson)
10:46 – Crox – Jack Doda (Alex Longoria, Nathan Kelly)
15:16 – Crox – PP – Nathan Kelly (Thor Harbott, Alex Longoria)
2nd Period
1:50 – Crox – Jack Doda (Blaine Andringa)
7:26 – Crox – SH – Jack Doda (Alex Longoria)
12:22 – Crox – PP – Nathan Kelly (Jackson Demarais)
15:48 – Crox – Jackson Reese (Blake Melsa)
3rd Period
1:00 – Crox – Samuel Stuart (Alex Longoria, Jack Doda)
6:20 – Crox – Nathan Kelly (Kadin Edwards, Thor Harbott)
8:25 – Crox – Blake Melsa (Zachary Tahran)
9:10 – Crox – Ty Larson (Unassisted)
9:45 – Crox – Alex Longoria (Samuel Stewart, Blaine Andringa)
11:10 – Crox – Zach Johnson (Nathan Kelly)
12:00 – Crox – Thor Harbot (Ashton Shockman Isaac Telle)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Andrew Withuski- Wahpeton-Breckenridge | 19 | 16 | 5 | 40 |
| David Beam – Wahpeton-Breckenridge | X | X | 7 | 7 |
| Jaren Bailey – Crookston | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
