#10 TRF SHUTS OUT PIRATES BOYS HOCKEY 5-0

The #10 ranked Thief River Falls Prowlers used a balanced attack with 11 players registering a point to beat the Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team 5-0 in a Section 8A game played at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST PERIOD-
The Pirates started the game strong with quality puck control and offensive zone time.  The Pirates also had a couple of quality scoring chances, as Joey Doda and Quinn Westlake both had shots stopped from just outside the blue paint.  The Pirates would get a third opportunity on a soft touch pass from Doda to his younger brother Jack who was stoned cold by Prowlers’ senior goaltender Noah Rupprecht.  The Pirate defense got caught flatfooted watching the play deep in the zone, allowing Ayden Leake to race up ice with the buck.  Scrambling to get back, the Pirate defense never saw Blake Biermaier slide in the backdoor resulting in his being wide open at the right post when Leake fed him the puck to make it 1-0 with 12:13 to play in the period.  “I thought top to bottom we were really solid in the first period,” said Pirates coach Josh Hardy. “Really proud of our effort and the style of hockey we were playing.  We were tough to play against, getting pucks deep and sharp all around.” The Prowlers used the goal to tilt the ice in their favor over the final twelve minutes outshooting the Pirates 13-9 in the first period.

SECOND PERIOD-
Thief River Falls came out of the first intermission with a flurry and used that to set up what would be a dominant middle period.   Just 22 seconds into the frame, Noah Dragseth made a pad stop on a point-blank shot from Kaden Bakken on the doorstep, and Tucker Skime was waiting to flip the rebound under the crossbar for a 2-0 lead.  It quickly became 3-0 as Biermaier, Grant Hartmann, and Brock Masseth played a game of touch and touch right to the back of the net.  Hartmann passed off to Biermaier in front of the Prowler bench, right back to Hartmann at the blue to the left wing for Masseth and back to the right hash marks for Hartmann to bury at 15:39 to go in the period.   “We struggled there in the second period,” said Hardy.  “You kind of scratch your head a little bit of hey, what transpired there between the first in the second.  They scored very early and then scored another one right away.  At that point, we’re down 3-0 and thinking here we go again.  We lost the mental battle at that point, and these are high school kids it’s not easy to overcome that.” With 11:09 to go in the period, Isaish Villarreal fired off the right-wing on goal, and the rebound popped out to the left-wing where Brendan Bottem fed it into the net for a 4-0 lead.   The Pirates would spend almost four consecutive minutes on the powerplay late in the period but were unable to muster any offense as they were outshot 20-4 by the Prowlers in the second.

THIRD PERIOD-
The Prowlers would get the lone goal of the third period through a consistent, patient offensive presence in the third period.  The lone goal of the period came when Hartmann held the puck at the bottom of the right circle. He patiently waited for a passing lane and found Evan Bushy, who crept in off the blue line through the left circle and fired a one-timer into the top corner to make it 5-0 with 10:11 to play.  “I thought at times in the third we looked good,” said Hardy.  “You have to take the positives.  I thought in the first period we showed we can play with these guys.  I thought Gavin Anderson played well, as did Jackson Demarais on the defense for us.  We come back tomorrow with a quick turnaround for a must-win against Park Rapids. We have to flush out the bad taste out of our mouth from the second and third period to get ready for tomorrow.” Most of the period was played in the Pirates defensive zone as they were outshot 12-1. 

The Pirates fall to 1-19 and will host Park Rapids Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in a Section 8A game at the Crookston Sports Center.  Thief River Falls improves to 12-8-1 on the year.
J.V. – Thief River Falls won 6-0

1st Period
12:12 – TRF – Blake Biermaier (Ayden Leake) 

2nd Period
16:38 – TRF – Tucker Skime (Kaden Bakken, Zach Dalzell)
15:39 – TRF – Grant Hartmann (Brockston Masseth)
11:09 – TRF – Brendan Bottem (Isaiah Villarreal, Justin Funk) 

3rd Period
10:11 – TRF – Evan Bushy (Grant Hartmann, Blake Biermaier)