The Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team hit the road on Tuesday night to take on Section 8A rival, the East Grand Forks Green Wave in the East Grand Forks Civic Center. The Green Wave came into the matchup ranked #5 in the Class 1A State rankings, and they showed why using a strong offensive performance to earn a 14-0 victory over the Pirates. “That’s a State Championship caliber team we just played,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “I thought they were good all night. They’ve got a lot of talent, they’re well-coached, and they showed it tonight.”
FIRST PERIOD –
East Grand Forks showed they were ready to play, scoring 6 goals in the first period. It took just 31 seconds for the Green Wave to strike, as Landon Woidtke found the back of the net to give the Green Wave a 1-0 lead. Moments later the Pirates would go on the Power Play but wouldn’t be able to get a shot on goal. With 12:44 remaining in the period, the Green Wave would extend the lead with a goal from Finley Lizakowksi to make it 2-0 Green Wave. 14 seconds later East Grand Forks would add another goal from Grady Magner making the score 3-0. The Pirates would then be a man down after being called for a penalty, and East Grand Forks would capitalize with a Power Play goal from Zach Stocker with 10:42 remaining. Crookston would finally get their first shot on goal from Kadin Edwards with 9:30 remaining in the period, but it would be saved by Lucas Wavra. Jaren Bailey would make a few nice saves for the Pirates to keep the score 4-0, but eventually, East Grand Forks would add two more goals, both from Jaksen Panzer, to take a 6-0 lead into the second period. “We didn’t help Jaren (Bailey) out tonight,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “He competed all night and was trying to get better for this team and I couldn’t be prouder for how he worked tonight.”
SECOND PERIOD –
East Grand Forks continued their strong performance into the second period, adding 5 more goals. Cullen Schmaltz got the scoring started at the 2:35 mark of the period, and Brock Schultz would add the next two bringing the score to 9-0 with 10:08 remaining in the period. Sam Frost would score the next one at the 9:20 mark of the period, and a little over a minute later the Green Wave would add another goal from Jaksen Panzer as he completed the hat trick. Crookston would have two Power Play chances in the second period, but couldn’t muster a shot, and would head into the third period down 11-0. Jaren Bailey did what he could as he saved 30 shots through the first two periods, as East Grand Forks was outshooting the Pirates 41-2 after the second period.
THIRD PERIOD –
The third period was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League rules, as East Grand Forks was leading by more than 6+ goals. Crookston would have one more Power Play opportunity but would once again be turned away. The Green Wave would add three more goals to secure a 14-0 victory. East Grand Forks would outshoot the Pirates 59-2 on the night. “The score is what it is. I’m not proud of it, but our guys never quit fitting and I’m extremely proud of them for that,” said Pirates Coach Josh Hardy. “It’s a long season and our focus now is moving forward from this and getting ready for Friday night.”
Jaren Bailey suffered the loss in net for Crookston making 45 saves. Lucas Wavra got the win and shutout for East Grand Forks.
Crookston falls to 0-2 on the season and will play next on Friday night when they travel to Hallock to take on Kittson County Central. East Grand Forks improves to 3-2 on the season with the win.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Grand Forks | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
1st Period
EGF – 0:31 – Landon Woidtke (Brock Schultz, Jaksen Panzer)
EGF – 4:16 – Finley Lizakowski (Unassisted)
EGF – 4:30 – Grady Magner (Landon Woidtke)
EGF – 6:18 – Zack Stocker (Jaksen Panzer, Brock Schultz) (PP)
EGF – 14:18 – Jaksen Panzer (Sam Schumacher, Sam Frost)
EGF – 16:48 – Jaksen Panzer (Grady Magner)
2nd Period
EGF – 2:35 – Cullen Schmaltz (Landon Jamieson)
EGF – 3:51 – Brock Schultz (Cole Bies, Grady Magner)
EGF – 6:52 – Brock Schultz (Jaksen Panzer) (SH)
EGF – 9:20 – Sam Frost (Cam Kofstad)
EGF – 10:48 – Jaksen Panzer (Grady Magner, Cole Bies)
3rd Period
EGF- 1:06 – Zach Stocker (Jace Fore)
EGF – 1:55 – Finley Lizakowski (Cole Bies, Justin Overgaard)
EGF – 7:30- JonahTollefson (Blake Magnell)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Jaren Bailey – Crookston | 12 | 18 | 15 | 45 |
| Lucas Wavra – EGF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
