The Crookston 12U Girls Hockey team had a meet and greet on Tuesday at the Crookston Sports Center before they leave for the Minnesota State Girls 12U Hockey Tournament in Virginia.
Cupcakes, cookies, and beverages were served to players, family members, and fans in attendance. Coaches Derrick Seaver, Brett Tahran, and Peter Vigness thanked everyone who came to support the girls and Kristy Swanson for putting the event together. “It’s very cool to have this much support, and it really shows the girls that all their hard work that they’ve done is paying off,” Coach Seaver explained.
Event organizer Kristy Swanson was proud of the girls for making it to the State\ Tournament, which is the first time for a Crookston hockey since 2017. “We’ve done events like this before, but we don’t have our teams go to State’s very often. So, it’s great for our youth to know that our community supports them,” said Swanson. “We did one with our Peewee Team back in 2017 go to State, I believe, so we thought we’d do the same for these girls now.”
Coach Seaver and the girls were thankful to the people that came to the meet and greet. The players were honored and hope to live up to the town’s expectations for the Tournament. “It’s a lot of pressure, and it’s kind of overwhelming, but it’s good and a lot of fun. And not a lot of teams go to States, and I think we’re lucky to be able to go,” said defenseman Adley Vigness. The team and Coach Seaver are excited to compete in the tournament. “Three of the eight teams we’ve played before this year and we’ve done well playing those teams, so we should do well against them again,” Coach Seaver explained. Goalie Madi Abrams is looking forward to the state tournament. “I think we’re going to do pretty well. We know Alexandria and how they play, and the main reason we didn’t beat them in Regions is that they changed their goalie to one that was very good,” Abrams explained. “And the city teams usually are pretty good as well. Still, I’m excited and think we’re going to have a good weekend ahead of us.”
The team will have a send-off for them going to the Tournament on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the Sports Center with the Crookston Police and Fire Departments leading them through the town. “They’re leaving from Sports Center at 10:30. They’ll head down Fisher Avenue to University, then on Highway 2 and stop at Highway 9,” Swanson explained. The team will then have a Tournament Banquet at the Iron Trail Motors Event Center, where they will be playing their games.
The Girls 12U team will have their first game on Friday, March 18 against Moose Lake at Noon, and will play either Marshall or Apple Valley/Burnsville/Eastview on Saturday, March 19.
