sports

BEMIDJI’S WEIDEMANN STOPS 39 PIRATE SHOTS TO EARN A 1-1 OT TIE WITH CROOKSTON

December 14, 2021

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Hockey team won a couple of games on the Iron Range last weekend, scoring 15 goals and giving up one!! They came back home tonight and found it to be better competition even though Bemidji was 0-6-0 coming into tonight. Bemidji Sophomore goalie Payton Wiedemann came into the game with an 0-5 record, 4.29 goals given up a game, and an 87% save percentage, came up with 39 saves to hold the Pirates to a 1-1 overtime tie at the Crookston Sports Center.

The first period started with Crookston carrying the play for a while, and Weidemann had a couple of saves. Still, Bemidji started coming around, playing more in the Crookston end and forced Crookston goalie Kailee Magsam to come up with a couple of saves she steered away into the corners. Bemidji was icing the puck a lot in the period, which would become prevalent the rest of the game and slowed down Crookston and seemed to through the Pirates off their game. With just over five minutes to go in the first period, the Pirates scored when Aleah Bienek received a pass about mid-ice from Addie Fee. Bienek was able to turn the Bemidji defenseman enough to get around her into the left circle, and Weidemann covering the side of the net Bienek was coming. Still, the Crookston senior put a nice hard shot on the ice to the far side and past the Bemidji goalie and a 1-0 lead. That is how the quick first period ended with no penalties and Grade A shots favoring the Pirates. “We should have started it off strong, and we think we came out a little flat,” said Crookston head coach Emily Meyer, “the girl’s realized that too in the locker room. We didn’t respond the way we should have to start the game being back home.”

Crookston picked up the pace a lot in the second period, and although Weidemann had 16 saves, the Pirates had so many chances! An open net on the left, an open net on the right missed either by missing the net or having a defenseman tipping the shot away. Bienek, Brekken Tull, Fee, and others were upset with themselves at the chances they had and couldn’t convert during the game. The Pirates put a lot of shots right into Weidemann, and she had help from her defensemen, particularly Chloe Hasbargen, a senior captain who saved maybe a couple of goals, at least in the period. “Their goalie was really good,” said Meyer, “she had a good glove, and we seemed to be going there all the time.” Bemidji would get the tying goal with just over two minutes to go in the period when Hasbargen got in the slot in Crookston’s end, popped a shot on Magsam with the rebound coming out to Bemidji eighth-grader, Samantha Nistler. She put the rebound away for her first goal of the season to tie it at 1-1, and the period wound down with the score. “We had a little bit of missed opportunities,” said Meyer, “I know our girls wanted to score, but instead of slamming it on the goalie, we needed to pull it out and score those rebounds over the goalie’s shoulder.”

The third period had a few more penalties with a couple coincidental’s, with each team having near a minute power play. The Pirates did take an interference call near seven and a half minutes left in regulation, but Crookston competently skated it off and didn’t give Bemidji any good chances. “Our penalty kill was good tonight with two sets of girls doing a job of icing the puck of disrupting Bemidji and didn’t allow them to set anything up,” said Meyer. Crookston again had chances to put the game away but was off a pass, on their backhand a lot when some rebounds did come out, and it wound down again with a lot of excitement and Crookston having some good looks at game-winning goals that never came. “We have to do a better job of bearing down on our sticks,” said Meyer.
Bemidji would take a penalty for checking with one second to go in regulation, which would carry over into the overtime with the scored tied at 1-1.

It was an eight minute overtime and Crookston starting with their top power play unit on the ice. Crookston came close a number of times to end the game, but Weidemann robbed Reese Swanson, Fee again and Morgan Nelson had a shot just wide. “I think that maybe we wanted it too much,” said Meyer, “we lost the thought of taking care of the puck in our own end and let them control it a little bit. We panicked when in their zone and not settle down and control it. We did a good job in front of the net and I know it was tough as Bemidji is pretty physical and I thought Addie (Fee) and Brynley (Coleman) stood their ground and just couldn’t get one in.”
Bemidji was pretty excited after being winless in six games to get a tie to move to 0-6-1 on the year. Crookston was disappointed with the 1-1 tie and fell to 6-3-1 on the season. The Pirate’s next game was scheduled for Thursday at Detroit Lakes but that has been postponed because of sickness in the Lakers school district. The game has been rescheduled to January 18 in Detroit Lakes. Crookston’s next game will be a week from now on December 21 at East Grand Forks in a Section 8A contest. Then Crookston will be off for the holidays and back in action on January 4. “We will have a few practices before East Grand Forks and can work on some things we would like to correct that we saw tonight,” said Meyer.
JV – Bemidji won 8-2