The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team couldn’t hold off the Roseau Rams, as they allowed 4 goals in the final 8 minutes en route to a 5-3 loss at the Crookston Sports Center on Tuesday night.
FIRST PERIOD
The first period began with the Pirates on fire, bringing all the energy and firing shots at George Johnson, the Rams’ netminder. This led to a scramble in front of him, allowing Greyson Ecker to whack in a rebound to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. However, Ecker would slip and fall during the celebration, and would only play one more shift for the remainder of the period. From that point on, Roseau began to take control in puck possession and shots on goal. However, they were unable to bury anything because Brady Chandler continued to make great saves, including diving out of the crease to stop a puck. But, Roseau kept the pressure high, and with 5 minutes to go in the period, were able to draw a hooking penalty to put them on the power play. This gave a great look to Ethan Neville, who buried a rebound to knot the game up at 1. The Pirates got on the power play with 1:31 left, but didn’t score, meaning the period ended tied at 1, and the Pirates would get 29 seconds of power play time to start the 2nd period.
SECOND PERIOD
In the second period, Roseau continued their momentum swing by dominating again in shots on goal, but Brady Chandler continued his phenomenal game by stopping everything that came his way in the period. Roseau had odd-man rushes and even a shorthanded look as the Pirates got on their second power play, but Chandler stopped everything. For the Pirates, they only had one shot on that second power play, and only 5 shots in the whole period. However, the third one of those shots came from Garrett Fischer, who fired a rocket off a faceoff past George Johnson, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead with 7 minutes to go in the period. For those final 7 minutes, Roseau peppered Chandler, including 4 shots on a power play, but Chandler and the defense held firm, allowing the Pirates to keep their 2-1 lead into the 3rd period.
THIRD PERIOD
As the third period began, the Pirates looked to up the ante, and take more aggressive looks at George Johnson in net. They got 4 shots on goal in the first 3 minutes, and then after that, Garrett Fischer once again scored on a faceoff win from Greyson Ecker, the 3rd goal of that caliber in 2 days, which allowed the Pirates to go up 3-1. It seemed as though the Pirates would pull away, but in the second half of the period, Roseau completely turned things around. It started with the second power play goal of the game for the Rams, put in on a rebound by Tyler George to cut the lead down to 1. Then, after Greyson Ecker hit the pipe, a breakout the other way allowed Abram Waage to win a scramble in front, pushing the puck past Chandler to tie the game at 3. This seemed to be when the wheels fell off for Crookston, as less than 3 minutes later, Boden Hammer beat Chandler on a breakaway to give Roseau their first lead of the game at 4-3. The Rams were able to cash in on an empty net with 32 seconds remaining, and that allowed them to hold on to a 5-3 victory.
Crookston drops to 12-7-1, while Roseau is now 7-12-2.
JV – Roseau won 8-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Roseau | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Crookston | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
1st Period
2:08 – Crookston – Greyson Ecker (Garrett Fischer, Jay Reese)
13:43 – Roseau (PP) – Ethan Neville (Heath Baugher)
2nd Period
9:59 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Greyson Ecker)
3rd Period
3:12 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Greyson Ecker)
8:51 – Roseau (PP) – Tyler George (Anton Klint)
11:21 – Roseau – Abram Waage (Taden Peterson, Heath Baugher)
14:07 – Roseau – Boden Hammer (Anton Klint, Liam Johnson)
16:28 – Roseau (EN) – Boden Hammer (Anton Klint, Abram Waage)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Brady Chandler – Crox | 18 | 13 | 15 | 46 |
| George Johnson – Roseau | 9 | 4 | 8 | 21 |
