The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team played one of their best defensive games of the year and used two Garrett Fischer goals to take down the Mayville/Portland Ice Dawgs by a score of 4-2 at the Crookston Sports Center on Friday night.
FIRST PERIOD
As the first period began, the Ice Dawgs started out hot, getting 5 of the first 6 shot attempts. The 5th and final one of the stretch would prove crucial, as Liam Marquardt scored between the legs of Crookston goaltender Teegyn Johnson, and the Ice Dawgs had a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, after the Pirates were unsuccessful on the power play, Garrett Fischer cashed in on a great pass from Greyson Ecker, and the Pirates tied the game at 1. Liam Larson very clearly then took inspiration from that pass, as he dished a sick one from behind the net to Gavin Aakhus at 12:14, and the Pirates established a 2-1 lead. The Piurates would get another power play, but they were outshot 3-2 with the man advantage in the period, and the game stayed at 2-1 at the intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period saw an upshift for the Pirates on offense, but a much better second period in net for Jack Mattson, who was able to stop everything the Pirates would throw at them. The Pirates had 16 shots in the period, all of them were stopped. For the Ice Dawg offense, they only had 1 shot on goal in the first 10 minutes, but then 6 in the final stages, including a breakaway with 2:10 to go, but Teegyn Johnson made a brilliant glove save on it. Overall, there were no penalties in the second period, and the game stayed at 2-1 headed into the third period.
THIRD PERIOD
The third period started the same way as the entire second period, with the puck possession staying relatively even between both sides, and the game staying at 2-1 due to both goalies making great saves. After the halfway point of the period passed, the Pirates began to increase their offensive aggressiveness, and they were able to draw a penalty, giving them their third power play. This allowed Greyson Ecker to score for the third goal of the game for the Pirates, giving them a 3-1 lead. As if that wasn’t the nail in the coffin, the lead stayed at 3-1 until the final two minutes, when Garrett Fischer scored his second of the game to put the game on ice. The Ice Dawgs got one more in the final seconds on the power play, but it wasn’t enough to change the result, and the Pirates were able to hold on for a 4-2 win.
Crookston improves to 5-0-1 on the season, while Mayville/Portland drops to 3-3.
JV – May/Port won 5-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Mayville-Portland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Crookston | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
1st Period
4:35 – May/Port – Liam Marquardt (Easton Hanson, Carter Anderson)
8:40 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Greyson Ecker, Jay Reese)
12:14 – Crookston – Gavin Aakhus (Liam Larson)
2nd Period
No scoring.
3rd Period
11:04 – Crookston (PP) – Greyson Ecker (Jay Reese, Garrett Fischer)
15:42 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Greyson Ecker, Jay Reese)
16:37 – May/Port (PP) – Wyatt Heskin (Brayden Caron)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Jack Mattson – M/P | 9 | 16 | 12 | 37 |
| Teegyn Johnson – Crox | 10 | 7 | 8 | 25 |
