Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer shutout by Watertown-Mayer

The Crookston Pirates boys‘ soccer team only had one shot on goal, but thanks to goalkeeper Reggie Winjum’s 15 saves, they stayed within striking distance. However, the Watertown-Mayer Royals scored a goal in each half to win the game 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at KROX Radio Stadium in Crookston.

FIRST HALF –
Watertown-Mayer came out firing, getting shots on goal early and often in the first half. As the half continued, the Pirates, playing without one of their main offensive threats in Jay Reese, struggled to get sustained pressure throughout the half. A little over halfway through the opening half, Watertown-Mayer Nicholas Johnson had a centering pass from the far sideline to Mason Schmidt in front of the net and blasted a kick into the net to give the Royals a 1-0 lead with under 19 minutes left in the half.
Reggie Winjum made some outstanding saves to keep the Pirates within a goal, which sparked the offense as they started to put a little more pressure on the Royal defense in the final minutes of the half. Watertown-Mayer kept the Pirate offense from getting a shot on goal in the half and took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF –
Watertown-Mayer started the second half like they played the first half, controlling play from the start. A little over six minutes into the half, Watertown-Mayer had the ball in front of the Pirate net, and Emmanuel Muro had a header pass to Alex Johnson, who blasted a kick into the net for a 2-0 Royal lead.
Crookston goalkeeper Reggie Winjum continued to make save after save as he was called upon to make seven saves in the first 20 minutes of the half.
Crookston took out its goalkeeper, Reggie Winjum, who was superb in the net, with less than seven minutes to go in the game after he made 15 saves. Colton Osborn made his varsity goalkeeper debut and made one save in his only save opportunity. Winjum moved out to the field and came close to getting a shot on goal, but the ball just rolled out of his reach and out of bounds. Crookston finally got a shot on goal with about six minutes to go. The shot deflected around before ricocheting to the Royal goalie, and that was the only shot on goal for the Pirates. Watertown-Mayer held on to win the game 2-0.

Crookston drops to 0-5-1 on the year and will take on East Grand Forks on Thursday at KROX Radio Stadium in Crookston. Watertown-Mayer improves to 4-3-1 on the year.
J.V. – Watertown-Mayer won 1-0

To listen to Coach Lon Boike’s postgame comments, click below.