The Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team hosted the Kittson County Central Bearcats on Tuesday night inside the Crookston Sports Center. The two teams met back in December earlier this year in a game that resulted in a 6-6 overtime tie. Kittson County Central was playing their third game in four days, but that didn’t stop them from coming away with a 4-2 road victory over the Pirates thanks to two third-period goals. “Credit to Kittson County Central,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “We got beat tonight. Their team speed was good throughout the night and ours wasn’t.”
FIRST-PERIOD –
After the Pirates got the first shot of the game, it was all Kittson County Central the next couple of minutes, as they would rattle off five straight shots that would all be saved by Jaren Bailey. The Pirates finally would get a good look at the 7:56 mark of the period and once again it was the Pirates top line getting the scoring started on a goal from Jack Doda assisted by Alex Longoria making it a 1-0 Pirates lead. The Bearcats had plenty of chances to tie the game the rest of the period, but Jaren Bailey was perfect through the first seventeen minutes giving Crookston a 1-0 lead heading into the second period. “I thought we did a nice job in the first period,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “I thought we outplayed them early in the game, but as the night went on, we looked like the team that was coming off of short rest, when it should’ve been the other way around.” Kittson County Central outshot the Pirates 13-7 in the first period and neither team had a Power Play opportunity.
SECOND-PERIOD –
The second period was a fast-paced 17 minutes. Kittson County Central was able to tie the game just 3:00 minutes into the frame on a goal from Tyler Hennen. After that, each team had one Power Play opportunity, and both squads would capitalize. First, the Bearcats would score a goal at the 8:15 mark to take their first lead of the game at 2-1. “Their top line was great tonight,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “Tyler Hennen specifically did a great job tonight against us and we knew coming in he was going to be a challenge and we weren’t up to the task tonight.” After that, the Pirates would draw a penalty and Carter Trudeau would find the back of the net on a rebound tying the game 2-2 with 6:22 remaining in the period. Each team would commit another penalty at the end of the period, and after a brief stretch of 4v4 hockey, the period would end, and Crookston would start the final frame with 53 seconds of the man advantage. Kittson County Central outshot the Pirates 26-15 through the first two periods.
THIRD-PERIOD –
The Bearcats were able to kill the Pirates Power Play to begin the period, but Crookston would quickly find themselves with a 5-3 advantage after back-to-back penalties from Kittson County Central. The Pirates would have multiple chances to take the lead, but the Bearcats penalty kill would prevail, and the game would remain tied at 2-2. “Anytime you can kill a penalty late in the game it’s a big momentum boost,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “We certainly had our opportunities, but they did a grab job stopping us and clogging the middle as they did most of the night.” From there, all the momentum swung back to the Bearcats. Tyler Hennen would go coast to coast and beat Jaren Bailey to give the Bearcats a 3-2 lead with 8:31 left to play. A couple of minutes later the Bearcats would put the dagger in the Pirates, scoring another goal to take a 4-2 lead. The Pirates would never recover, and Kittson County Central would hang on to secure the 4-2 victory over the Pirates. Crookston was outshot on the night 36-25.
Jaren Bailey made 32 saves for the Pirates and allowed 4 goals in the losing effort. Jameson Turner got the start for the Bearcats and made 23 saves allowing 2 goals while picking up the win.
The Pirates fall to 2-13-1 on the season and will next play on Friday night when they host Hibbing. “We have a big stretch coming up and we have lots of mistakes we need to fix,” said Pirates Head Coach Josh Hardy. “I think we also need to get in better shape and at times we also could be smarter. So lots to work on getting ready for a big game against Hibbing on Friday.” The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. inside the Crookston Sports Center and the game can be watched on our live stream by going to Kroxam.com. Kittson County Central improves to 4-11-1 on the season with the win.
1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
Kittson County Central | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
CROOKSTON | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
1st Period
7:56 – Crox – Jack Doda (Alex Longoria)
2nd Period
3:00 – KCC – Tyler Hennen (Izyk Strege, Landon Sugden)
8:15 – KCC – (PP) – Ethan Hanson (Tyler Hennen, Haydon Olsonawski)
10:38 – Crox – (PP) – Carter Trudeau (Blaine Andringa)
3rd Period
8:29 – KCC – Tyler Hennen (Unassisted)
10:37 – KCC – Landon Sugden (Tyler Hennen)
Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Jaren Bailey – Crookston | 13 | 11 | 8 | 32 |
Jameson Turner – Kittson County Central | 6 | 7 | 10 | 23 |