sports

CROOKSTON BOY’S HOCKEY GIVES UP TWO LATE GOALS IN 5-3 LOSS TO TARTAN

December 29, 2022

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Hockey team started fast taking an early 2-0 lead but gave up five of the last six goals in the game in a loss to the Tartan Titans 5-3 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena Holiday Classic on Thursday afternoon.

FIRST PERIOD –
It took only thirty-nine seconds into the game for Crookston to have the first good scoring chance as the Titans would be called for a trip to send the Pirates to the Power Play. The Power Play woes continued for the Pirates, as they would record one shot on goal but come away with nothing. The rest of the period was fairly slow with few shots on the net until Tartan had a couple of good opportunities. They would hit the side of the net with one try, Jaren Bailey would make a nice save, and the Titans would also hit a post keeping the score 0-0. Then in the span of eleven seconds, Crookston would score two goals to take a 2-0 lead. The first goal came at the 13:20 mark of the period as Jack Doda skated in on the left side and fired a snipe into the top left corner for his 12th goal of the season. Then eleven seconds later Tate Hamre would score his first career varsity goal on assists from Jack Doda and Carter Trudeau and Crookston had a 2-0 lead. The Pirates would keep the Titans off the scoreboard the remainder of the period and take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission being outshot 7-5.

SECOND PERIOD –
Crookston came out and got three early shots on goal in the first minute but Tartan’s goaltender Damon Hennagir would stop every single one. Similar to the first period, there would be an early penalty, but this time Crookston would be a man down as Kadin Edwards would be sent off for a cross-check. Tartan would capitalize a minute into the Power Play on a shot that fluttered in front of the net and eventually hit off a few bodies and found its way into the net. That gave Crookston a 2-1 lead with 14:40 still remaining in the period. There were plenty of more shots in the period from both teams as the offenses got good scoring chances and created opportunities. The next goal however wouldn’t be until under 3:00 left in the frame and Tartan would be the one’s responsible for it, tying the game at 2-2. Brody Laska who scored the first goal for the Titans would skate in all alone and be turned away by Bailey initially, but the rebounded would be scooped up by Gavin Buche who wouldn’t miss the net, tying the game at 2-2. The Titans would also have one more chance at the end of the period right as the buzzer sounded but Bailey would make a save on a two-on-one chance for Tartan, keeping the score at 2-2 entering the third period. Tartan had outshot Crookston 22-13 through two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD –
At the 3:56 mark of the final period, Tartan would score their third straight goal and take a 3-2 lead. A short while after Nathan Kelly would be called for a penalty and it appeared as if things were going to get worse for Crookston. It ended up being the exact opposite, as the Titans goaltender misplayed a puck coming out of the net, and Jack Doda soared in to take it and score his second goal of the game-tying things back up at 3-3 with 9:04 remaining in the game. A few minutes later Crookston had a golden opportunity to take the lead back as Carter Trudeau would skate in with the puck. A Titans defender would hook him from behind giving the Pirates a Power Play with 5:51 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for Crookston, Power Plays and Special Teams have been a struggle, and it would once again be the case, as the Titans would steal a pass as the Pirates were trying to leave the zone, and Gavin Buche would beat Bailey for his second goal of the game, giving Tartan the lead back at 4-3 with 5:24 remaining. Crookston still had over a minute left on the Power Play but it would amount to nothing, and Tartan would keep the lead all the way down to 1:28 remaining when they would use a timeout. Crookston would eventually pull Bailey for the extra attacker, but another turnover would give Tartan a free look at the net, and Noah Joyce wouldn’t miss, scoring and giving the Titans a 5-3 win with the late empty net goal.

Crookston falls to 1-8 on the season and will play back at the Ralph next Tuesday night when they take on the Thief River Falls Prowlers. Tartan improves to 1-8 on the season with the win.

FOR PIRATES COACH JOSH HARDY’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW

Scoring	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Tartan	0	2	3	5
CROOKSTON	2	0	1	3

1st Period
13:20 – Crox – Jack Doda (12) (unassisted)
13:31 – Crox – Tate Hamre (1) (Jack Doda, Carter Trudeau)

2nd Period
2:40 – Tartan – Brody Laska (Shawn Duggan, Noah Joyce) (PP)
14:03 – Tartan – Gavin Buche (Brody Laska, Conner Wobse)

3rd Period
3:56 – Tartan – Darren Tvedt (Ben Milan, Colin Kammerer)
7:56 – Crox – Jack Doda (13) (unassisted (SH)
11:36 – Tartan – Gavin Buche (Noah Joyce) (SH)
16:43 – Tartan – Noah Joyce (unassisted) (EN)