CROOKSTON GIRL’S HOCKEY COMES UP SHORT IN REMATCH WITH EAST GRAND FORKS

The Crookston Pirates Girl’s hockey team showed signs of improvement from their season-opening loss, but East Grand Forks proved too much as the Green Wave beat the Pirates 5-1 in a Section 8A game played at the Crookston Sports Center.

1st Period –
Both teams traded a few scoring chances in the opening, but both goaltenders kept their nets clean. Crookston’s goaltender Grace Koshney stopped ten first period shots while East Grand Forks netminder Ellie McDonald denied five shots. “We held them scoreless there in the first,” said Crookston head coach Tim Moe. “For the most part, we did a nice job. We liked what we were doing in the offensive zone, creating chances ourselves. However, we gave up too many scrambles in front of our net, but Grace Koshney played outstanding again tonight and made some saves she had no business making.”

2nd Period –
The second period featured significantly more scoring opportunities as well as more back-and-forth hockey. East Grand Forks broke through with the game’s opening goal when Kate Johnson rifled a shot into the net for a power-play goal assisted by Kylie Stauss and Kara Ellis. Crookston responded with a power-play goal of their own with 5:55 to play in the period. MacKenzie Epema sent a pass to Raina Satrom, who found Nora Peterson. Peterson lifted her shot past McDonald into the net, tying the score at 1-1. “She’s just been doing that the past two weeks here for us,” added Moe. “She has the potential within her to be an outstanding player and a game-changer. Every time she gets the puck on her stick, you hope she finds a way to get the puck to the net. The puck seems to come of her stick differently than it does other kids.” The Green Wave answered back 55-seconds later with Kate Johnson scoring her second goal of the period of a Crookston turnover giving East Grand Forks a 2-1 lead after two periods. “That’s a very good hockey team, and how quickly they responded to retake the lead is the sign of a very good hockey team. They come at you with three lines that are all pretty solid, and their top line is excellent. I think we had a little trouble matching up with them at times because we were a little shorthanded.”

3rd Period –
Kate Johnson completed her hattrick just 2:54 into the final period after stealing the puck at center ice and skating in for the break-away goal giving the visitors a 3-1 lead. With 7:06 to play Kylie Stauss finished off an assist from Kara Ellis increasing East Grand Forks lead to 4-1. Kate Johnson added her fourth goal and the final foal of the night tapping in a loose puck in the crease with 31-seconds to play closing out the Green Wave’s 5-1 win. “I think it was more competitive than what the final score showed,” summarized Moe. “It was tied for a good portion of the game and kind of got away from us towards the end. It’s part of the maturation process that we have to go through. We didn’t mention it all with the kids or anything, but when you’re missing one of your top-line centers with Aleah Bienek home sick, for us to go out and compete like that, I think it says a lot about the character in our locker room.”

Crookston falls to 5-7. The Pirates return to the ice on Saturday when Crookston hosts International Falls at 2 P.M. East Grand Forks improves to 6-4.
J.V. – East Grand Forks won 7-0

1st Period
No Scoring

2nd Period
9:32 – EGF – Kate Johnson (Kylie Stauss, Kara Ellis) (PP)
5:55 – CROX – Nora Peterson (Raina Satrom, MacKenze Epema) (PP)
5:00 – EGF – Kate Johnson (Kendra Emery)

3rd Period
14:06 – EGF – Kate Johnson (Unassisted)
7:06- EGF – Kylie Stauss (Kara Ellis)
0:31 – EGF – Kate Johnson (Kylie Stauss, CJ Mack)