CROOKSTON BOYS HOCKEY DROPS GAME TO TRF, 5-0

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team fell to the Thief River Falls Prowlers on Thursday night at the Crookston Sports Center, 5-0. 

FIRST PERIOD
The game started very evenly matched as both sides were able to create chances offensively. The Pirates would get the first break five minutes into the game as Thief River Falls would get called for a penalty, sending Crookston to the power play. Greyson Ecker would fire a shot on goal during the power play, which would be saved, then Garrett Fischer winded up a slapshot, but that would also get saved by the Prowlers netminder, Conner Roff. The Prowlers would kill off the power play and get the game’s first goal as Jace Erickson centered a pass for Cooper Erickson, who wristed the puck into the net to give Thief River Falls a 1-0 lead. Crookston would get called for a penalty as the Prowlers went to the power play for the first time in the game. Seven seconds into the power play, Max Arlt scored on a shot that was fired on goal by Jace Erickson, which was initially saved by Kelly but deflected off of him, right into Arlt and into the net. That gave Thief River Falls a 2-0 lead. Late in the first period, the Prowlers would be called for their second penalty, and the Pirates power play would go to work for the remaining 1:56 of the period, but they couldn’t score on the man advantage. Thief River Falls would hold their 2-0 lead after the first period. 

SECOND PERIOD
Crookston started the period with just four seconds of power play time, and two minutes into the period, Max Arlt would strike again. This time, Bennett Borgen, on the near boards, threw the puck to Paul Anderson, standing next to Parker Kelly, and fired a perfect pass to Arlt out in front to give the Prowlers a 3-0 lead. Crookston would get called for a penalty as Thief River Falls went to the power play for the second time in the game, but the Pirates penalty kill successfully kept the Prowlers off the scoreboard to keep the game at 3-0. With six and a half minutes left in the period, Crookston would get called for another penalty as the Prowlers took advantage of the man advantage as Spencer Anderson cut out in front of the net, received a pass, and tucked it into the net for a 4-0 Thief River Falls lead. Thief River Falls would get called for a penalty with under two minutes left in the period, sending the Pirates to their third power play of the night. Thief River Falls would keep Crookston out of the net to end the period and maintain a 4-0 lead heading to the final period. 

THIRD PERIOD
This time, the Pirates would have 14 seconds of power play time to open up the period as the Prowlers killed off the man advantage. Crookston was able to generate some offensive zone time and a few shots in the first couple of minutes in the third. Starting from their own end, Thief River Falls strung a couple of passes together to Borgen, who chased the puck down in front of Kelly, reached out to try and get a piece of the puck, which he did, and the puck went right to Arlt who was able to get the goal and the hat trick. That extended Thief River Falls’ lead to 5-0. Later in the period, the Pirates would get called for their fourth penalty of the night but they were able to kill off the Prowlers power play late in the period. Thief River Falls would get the win, 5-0. 

Crookston drops to 4-3-0 on the season and will take on Bismarck Central on Wednesday in Thief River Falls.
Thief River Falls improves to 4-3-1 on the year and will take on Lake of the Woods next Wednesday at home. 

TO LISTEN TO COACH HARDY’S POST-GAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW:

1st Period
7:36 – TRF – Cooper Anderson (Jace Erickson, Max Arlt)
9:43 – TRF – Max Arlt (Jace Erickson) (PP)

2nd Period
2:04 – TRF – Max Arlt (Paul Anderson, Bennett Borgen)
11:58 – TRF – Spencer Anderson (Tucker Howe, Max Arlt) (PP)

3rd Period
7:21 – TRF – Max Arlt (Paul Anderson, Bennett Borgen)

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