Pelican Rapids beats Crookston Girls Soccer 1-0 in the Section 8A tourney

The Crookston Pirate Girls’ Soccer team played a great all-around game, but the Pelican Rapids Vikings found a way to score one goal in a 1-0 victory in the first round of the Section 8A Girls’ Soccer tournament played in Pelican Rapids.

FIRST HALF –
The first half was an outstanding back-and-forth battle as each team had several top-notch scoring opportunities. The first shot towards goal was by Pelican Rapids when they had a slow rolling shot on goal in the first three minutes of the half. Crookston answered 45 seconds later with a shot on goal, but the Viking goalkeeper made the save.
Crookston started controlling play, and with over seven minutes gone in the half, the Pirates’ Brooklyn Waldal placed a corner kick in front of the net. One of the Pirates blasted a shot on goal, but the Vikings keeper made the save to keep the game scoreless.
Pelican Rapids came back about six minutes later and had a shot on goal, but Kambree Wangen made a sliding save. There weren’t any big scoring chances for the next 15 minutes or so when it looked like Pelican Rapids scored the first goal of the game, but offside was called, and the game was still scoreless over halfway through the half.
With 9:02 left in the half, Pelican Rapids looked like they had another goal but offide was called and the game remained scoreless and that is how the first half ended, with a 0-0 tie.

SECOND HALF –
Pelican Rapids had the first shot on goal in the second half, over five minutes in, and Wangen made the save. Both teams had difficulty getting the ball out of the midfield area until the Vikings kicked a long pass up the field, and Ellie Carlson caught up with the ball behind the Pirate defense. The Pirate keeper came out to try to play the ball. Miller made a nice move around the keeper and kicked the ball into a wide-open net for a 1-0 lead with 26:14 left in the game.
Pelican Rapids tried another deep pass to Miller, who caught up with the ball again. This time, Crookston’s Wangen timed the play perfectly and made the stop with 10:47 left in the game. Over two minutes later, Wangen made another save to keep the Pirate deficit at 1-0. With 3:39 left in the game, Pelican Rapids snuck behind the Pirate defense, and Wangen made a diving save.
In the final minutes of the game, Crookston picked up the urgency and tried to get a shot on goal, but the Pelican Rapids defense was up to the task, and the Pirates couldn’t find the net, as the Vikings won 1-0.

Crookston ends the season with a 1-13 record and will say goodbye to three seniors – Madelyn Knutson, Makayla Tahran, and Nashelle Tellez-Vasquez. Pelican Rapids improves to 4-8-1 on the year and will play East Grand Forks on Thursday.

Listen to Coach Sarah Reese’s comments by clicking below.