CROOKSTON BOY’S HOCKEY EXPLODES FOR 8 GOALS IN FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON, CLAIMS LIONS CUP

FIRST PERIOD –
Crookston was ready to play right away and got off to a quick start. It took just 1:45 into the game for the Pirates to draw first blood as Jack Doda took a beautiful centering pass from behind the net from Brandon Colborn and sniped a wrist shot past the Governors goaltender for a 1-0 lead. The Pirates continued to apply pressure and just a couple of minutes later Jack Doda got his second goal of the opening period stretching the lead to 2-0. “Our passing was excellent and created lots of opportunities for us today,” said coach Hardy. “We were making little plays and it made a big difference.” Assisting on the goal were Ryan Street and Carter Trudeau. The Governors goaltender Justin Kasper would settle down and make a couple of nice saves to keep the game at 2-0. Kasper wasn’t the only goaltender having to work in the opening period, as Jaren Bailey would face a two-on-one chance and turn St. Paul Johnson away with an excellent save keeping Crookston in front 2-0 with 7:00 remaining in the opening frame. Shortly after the Pirates would draw a penalty and go on the Power Play. Over a minute into the Power Play, Michael Bochow would be called for tripping making it 4V4 hockey. Just as the Governors penalty was expiring Carter Trudeau would get called for interference giving St. Paul Johnson over a minute of five on three hockey. The Pirates penalty kill and Bailey answered the call killing both penalties to stay in front 2-0. Crookston would get a couple of nice looks in the final two minutes from their top line but couldn’t muster another goal, and would settle for a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Both teams had plenty of chances with Crookston getting 17 shots on goal and St. Paul Johnson registering 13. It was arguably the best period of hockey so far this season for Crookston. 

SECOND PERIOD –
The Pirates would explode in the middle frame for five goals and never looked back. Ironically, each team got off to a slower start in the second period getting one shot each in the first two minutes resulting in zero goals. The slow start didn’t last long as Kadin Edwards would fire a shot on goal that would result in a scrum and Nathan Kelly would clean up the mess scoring his second goal of the season at the 3:19 mark to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. A couple of shifts later it was Brandon Colborn’s turn taking the puck on an initial wrap-around try by Edwards that got the goaltender off balance and resulted in a wide-open net that Colborn wouldn’t miss giving Crookston a 4-0 edge with 11:37 remaining in the period. It wasn’t more than two minutes later and Carter Trudeau skated in and around a defender to score and the route was on with the Pirates in front 5-0. Crookston continued to play with a ton of effort as they were flying around making plays as they had all night. They would be rewarded with a Power Play just past the halfway point of the period after drawing a penalty but it would come up empty. Bailey also remained stellar in net denying every shot he faced including a breakaway chance for the Governors with under 4:00 remaining in the period. Bailey would deflect the shot off his shoulder and up into the netting keeping the Pirates in front 5-0. The Pirates would get their third Power Play of the game in the final minutes of the period after a tripping call giving them the man advantage. Crookston would score eight seconds into the Power Play as Michael Bochow snuck in his first goal of the season to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead with 2:47 left in the middle frame. Jackson Demarais also recorded his first point of the season with an assist on the goal. The scoring still wasn’t finished, and Jack Doda would complete his third hat trick of the season with an easy tap-in thanks to an excellent pass from Ryan Street. That would complete the scoring for the period, but Tate Hamre would be called for interference just before the period ended, giving the Governors a Power Play to start the third period trailing 7-0.

THIRD PERIOD –
The third period was played with running time per Minnesota State High School League rules as Crookston led by 6+ goals. The Pirates not only killed off the Power Play that carried over into the third period, but they scored a shorthanded goal in the process. After forcing a faceoff in the Governors zone, and winning it, Nathan Kelly would score his second goal of the night from the point to put Crookston ahead 8-0. Blake Melsa and Ty Larson registered the assists with it being the first point of the season for Larson, and it was also the first shorthanded goal of the season for the Pirates. The rest of the period flew by with the running time and Jaren Bailey was able to preserve the shutout helping Crookston win their first game of the season by a score of 8-0, and also win the Lions Cup in the process. “I looked at the guys and I said that the last eleven minutes of the game were for Jaren and we really did a great job of keeping them off the scoreboard,” said Pirates coach Josh Hardy. “Jaren made some really nice saves and he has continued to get better as the season goes along so we love to see that.”

Crookston improves to 1-3 and will have a quick turnaround for a game tomorrow morning against Two Rivers. “Two Rivers hasn’t lost a game yet and they are a really good team,” said coach Hardy. “It’ll be a great challenge for us and we’re going to have to be ready to play.” The game will be carried on KROX Radio starting with the RiverView Health pregame show at 10:30 a.m. and the drop of the puck at 11:00 a.m.
St. Paul Johnson falls to 1-3 with the loss.  

1st Period
1:45 – Crox – Jack Doda (7) (Brandon Colborn)
4:53 – Crox – Jack Doda (8) (Ryan Street, Carter Trudeau)

2nd Period
3:19 – Crox – Nathan Kelly (2) (Kadin Edwards, Brandon Colborn)
5:23 – Crox – Brandon Colborn (2) (Kadin Edwards)
6:51 – Crox – Carter Trudea (3) (Jack Doda)
14:13 – Crox – Michael Bochow (1) (Zachary Tahran, Jackson Demarais) (PP)
15:40 – Crox – Jack Doda (9) (Ryan Street)

3rd Period
1:12 – Crox – Nathan Kelly (3) (Blake Melsa, Ty Larson) (SH)