Mason Poolman scored three goals,, and Tanner Lubinski added two of his own as #3 East Grand Forks defeated the Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team 7-0 in a Section 8A matchup at the Crookston Sports Center Tuesday night.
The Green Wave took the opening faceoff deep into the Crookston end of the ice and spent most of the first period playing offense as they outshot the Pirates 17-3 in the first period. The offensive effort would pay off midway through the period when Josh Nelson fed a pass to Tanner Lubrinski below the left circle, and he beat Pirate goaltender Noah Dragseth to make it 1-0 with 9:57 to go in the period. The Green Wave would quickly make it 2-0 when Dragseth stopped a shot from Trey Ausmus, but Mason Poolman was on the doorstep to knock home the rebound with 8:33 to go. The Green Wave made it 3-0 when Landon Parker carried the puck into the offensive zone down the left side on a 2-on-1 and elected to shoot rather than pass beating Dragseth for the third goal of the period with 6:09 to go. The Pirates finished the period with their best play, maintaining some time in the offensive zone and tallying two late shots on goal. “They looked the part as one of the best teams in the state,” said Hardy. “They are well-coached and did a nice job of hemming us into our zone and creating lots of opportunities. A couple of goals we’d like to have there, but we talked to the boys about it – that you make a couple of mental mistakes good teams are going to make you pay.”
The Green Wave continued their offensive onslaught in the second period tacking on three more goals to take a 6-0 lead after two periods. Mason Poolman would get his second goal of the game when he forced a turnover in the Pirates’ end and was able to get to the rebound after his initial shot was saved. Poolman buried the rebound for a power-play goal and a 4-0 lead with 14:05 to play in the period. Five minutes later, the Poolman would get a hat trick when Parker left a drop pass just above the left faceoff dot, and Poolman’s slapshot was ripped to the back of the net for a power-play goal and a 5-0 lead with 9:01 to go in the second. “We’re averaging five penalties a game, and that’s not sustainable for us, especially when we’re playing good teams as we have,” said Hardy. “We had one nice kill, but you but good teams like this on the power-play they are going to make you pay.” The Green Wave made it 6-0 with 4:44 to go in the period when Kole Chupka fired a shot from the blue line that was blocked, and the rebound was lost for a moment in a mass off skates and sticks in front of the next before Lubinski fired his second goal of the game past the Dragseth’s stick side. The Pirates would get their best opportunity to score when Leyton Salentine brought the puck into the offensive zone on a two-on-one and chose to shoot. His initial shot was blocked, but he was able to get the rebound and couldn’t get his backhander on net. Moments later, the Green Wave would have a breakaway when Cole Avery was sprung loose through the neutral zone and came in alone against Dragseth. Avery was unable to get Dragseth to bite on any move, and his shot ended up in the belly of Dragseth so that the period ended with the Green Wave leading 6-0. The Green Wave outshot the Pirates 21-2 in the period.
The third period was played under running time with no score. East Grand Forks would get their lone goal of the period when Jaken Panzer took a pass from Brandon Anderson to the bottom of the left circle. Panzer attempted a cross-ice pass that deflected off of defenseman Ty Hamre trying shot and into the goal past Pirate goaltender Jaren Bailey, a freshman playing his first varsity minutes, for a 7-0 lead with 2:57 to play. “I thought Jaren looked good,” said Hardy. “That goal went off Ty Hamre laying down to break up a pass. It went off his leg and in, so Jaren didn’t even see it. It was a good period for Jaren getting his first action and getting the jitters out. We were pleased with his play, and I thought our overall play wasn’t too bad there. Between periods we talked about having to start getting ready and shift our focus to what is next. We have a good game against Thief River Falls, and let’s start to build some momentum for that. We got a bunch of different guys in on the action, and it was a good period for us.” That goal The Green Wave outshot the Pirates 14-1 in the third period.
Crookston falls to 0-7 on the year and will host Thief River Falls on Thursday, December 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Crookston Sports Center. East Grand Forks improves to 4-0-2.
J.V. – EGF won 8-1
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| East Grand Forks | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1st Period
9:57 – East Grand Forks – Tanner Lubinski (Josh Nelson, Brandon Anderson)
8:33 – East Grand Forks – Mason Poolman (Trey Ausmus)
6:09 – East Grand Forks – Landon Parker (Logan Spencer, Mason Poolman)
2nd Period
14:05 – East Grand Forks – Mason Poolman (2) (unassisted) PP
9:01 – East Grand Forks – Mason Poolman (3) (Landon Parker, Logan Spencer) PP
4:44 – East Grand Forks – Tanner Lubinski (2) (Kole Chupka, Carson Schlenk)
3rd Period
2:57 – East Grand Forks – Jaksen Panzer (Brandon Anderson, Josh Nelson)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Kaden Robinson – EGF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Noah Dragseth – Crox | 14 | 19 | X | 33 |
| Jaren Bailey – Crox | X | X | 13 | 13 |
