Trey Ausmus’ third-period hat trick caps a 7-0 victory for the fifth-ranked East Grand Forks Green Wave over the Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team in a Section 8A game at the East Grand Forks Civic Center.
The Green Wace flexed their muscle throughout the first period, but junior Carter Nelson looked every part the shutdown goaltender except for when the Green Wave’s Jackson Panzer found the puck. The goal came with 8:40 to go in the period when Trey Ausmus found Mason Poolman in the right circle who fired a one-timer on Nelson. Nelson made the save, but the rebound sat at the top of the crease where Jaksen Panzer poked it into the net for a 1-0 lead. The Pirates would kill off a five-on-three Green Wave powerplay late in the period before Jack, and Joey Doda created the only offense of the period. Jack started the offense out of the Pirates’ end but was wrestled down crossing center ice, and Joey picked up the puck, moving right to left across the face of the goaltender for a backhander off the goalie’s pads the got behind him put but hit the post. Panzer would get his second goal of the game with 1:24 to go in the period when Brandon Anderson fired a shot off the left point. Nelson made the save, but Panzer was once again on the doorstep to make it 2-0. “Our game plan coming in was knowing we’re going to give up 45 or 50 shots or more,” said Pirates coach Josh Hardy. “But we didn’t want those shots to be grade-A opportunities and to keep everything to the outside, weather the storm at times and score when we get opportunities. Overall I thought it was a pretty solid period for us, we battled hard and lost Gavin Anderson early on a tough hit in the neutral zone, and he’s out for the rest of the game. We’re thin, to begin with, and that threw a wrench in the game. Some guys only had one period to play from playing three periods in the JV game, and guys stepped up and responded.” The Green Wave outshot the Pirates 20-1 in the first period.
The Green Wave continued to pour it on in the second period before Logan Spencer found Brody Schultz in the high slot and Schultz blasted a shot past the glove of Nelson off the post and into the net as the rest of his line changed behind him giving East Grand Forks a 3-0 lead with 12:02 left in the second. The Green Wave would get called for a tripping call right after the goal but applied a steady forecheck before a puck popped free to Schultz, who once again used the post to steer his shorthanded shot into the net making it 4-0 with 10:06 left in the period. With under six minutes to go in the period, Jack Doda would get loose on a breakaway, but Green Wave goaltender Austin Cooley stuck with the puck and didn’t give Doda a shooting lane making a save against the right post. Carsen Schlenk looked sure to add another goal in the final 30 seconds of the period, but Nelson butterflied post to post and knocked down his shot from the left of the slot to keep it 4-0 after two. “It was a little bit more of the same, we weathered the storm that period,” said Hardy. “We did have a few more opportunities to score. Joey and Jack had breakaways, and in a game like this where we’re overmatched a little, we have to keep things to the outside. Not give up weak ones and score during the few chances we’re going to get. I think Nate Kelly came out and played a great period stepping in on that second line, and I thought Carter continued to battle. East Grand Forks outshot the Pirates 22-5 in the second.
The Green Wave kept rolling in like high tide in the third period as Ausmus made it 5-0 with 14:59 to play on a slapshot for the blue line off a pass from Caleb Schmiedeberg. Just 44 seconds later, Ausmus would score on the powerplay from the right post to make it 6-0 prompting a goal change as Noah Dragseth replaced Nelson, who stopped 43 shots in net. Ausmus would get the hat trick when he redirected a Logan Spencer wrister into the back of the net to make it 7-0 with 5:45 to play. “Obviously, there have been seasons where we’ve had more wins, been more successful,” said Hardy. “But I couldn’t be prouder of this group. Every time we get a setback as a coach, you almost say ‘okay are we going to quit here, what’s going to happen, are these guys going to respond’. And every single day they show up, they continue to work and pick each other up. I always say as a coach, you really can’t evaluate your success until ten to twenty years down the road when you see what sort of young men these guys turn into. And I have no doubt that this group of boys is going to turn into fine, fine young men because of how they’ve responded to the difficulties of this year. As a coach, I couldn’t be prouder.” The Pirates were unable to muster any offense in the period as they were outshot by the Green Wave 15-0.
The Pirates fall to 1-18 on the year and will travel to Thief River Falls for a Section 8A game against the Prowlers at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Thursday.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Grand Forks | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
1st Period
8:20 – EGF – Jaksen Panzer (Mason Poolman, Trey Ausmus)
1:24 – EGF – Jaksen Panzer (2) (Brandon Anderson)
2nd Period
12:02 – EGF – Brody Schultz (Logan Spencer)
10:06 – EGF – Brody Schultz (2) (unassisted) (SH)
3rd Period
14:59 – EGF – Trey Ausmus (Caleb Schmiedeberg, Tanner Lubinski)
14:15 – EGF – Trey Ausmus (2) (Landon Parker, Jaksen Panzer) PP
5:45 – EGF – Trey Ausmus (3) (Logan Spencer, Landon Parker)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Carter Nelson – Crox | 18 | 20 | 5 | 43 |
| Noah Dragseth – Crox | x | x | 9 | 9 |
| Austin Cooley – EGF | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
