Crookston Boys Hockey scores 4 goals in 2nd period to beat KCC

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team used the momentum from the end of the first period to surge in the second, scoring four goals in 5-on-5 hockey en route to a 6-1 win over the Kittson County Central Bearcats on Tuesday night at the Hallock Ice Arena. This is the second time the Pirates have beaten the Bearcats this year after winning 8-1 in the first game of the season.

FIRST PERIOD –
As the first period began, Crookston made it very clear that they were going to be the dominating force when it came to offense. They have been able to do this to other teams throughout the season, but nothing like this. Crookston got the first five shots on goal in the game, and after Kittson County Central got their first shot, an attempt from Gus Gunnarson that Parker Kelly saved, the Bearcats were left without another shot on goal for the remainder of the period. On the other end of the ice, Crookston repeatedly peppered Bearcat goalie Jameson Tucker with backhanders, one-timers, wraparounds, and deflections, and Turner was able to stop them all. It began to look like the period was going to end scoreless. However, a great pass by Grant Funk in front set up Garrett Fischer for a fabulous goal with less than forty seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead as they headed into the intermission.

SECOND PERIOD –
The start of the second period looked to be more of the same, as Crookston jumped out early once again, applying massive pressure to the bearcat defense. This resulted in Jay Reese getting a takeaway in the neutral zone and breaking away to beat Tucker, giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead. From there, however, the Bearcats began to slowly start to find their offensive groove, as multiple plays were executed to get a few more shots on goal. The fourth of these shots ended up being terrific, as a snipe by Wyatt Samuelson, on his birthday, cut the lead down to 2-1 and set Hallock Ice Arena into a frenzy. However, this would be extremely short-lived, as just 66 seconds later, Greyson Ecker scored after great passing from Garrett Fischer and Jay Reese to make it 3-1. Just over a minute later, on the next line change, Connor Hanson found the back of the net to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead. That wouldn’t be all, though, as Hanson found himself on a breakaway in the final minute of the period, and he was able to beat Tucker to put the Pirates up 5-1, ending a 4-goal period in style.

THIRD PERIOD –
The third period started to get a little more sloppy and whistles were more frequent. After 3 penalties in the first two periods, 4 were called in the final period. However, no one was able to score on the power play. In fact, it looked like no one was going to score for the whole period, as the Crookston defense continued to prevent KCC from getting shots on goal and Jameson Tucker playing much better than the scoreboard indicated. However, Tucker broke on a perfectly placed shot from the blue line by Riley Benson, putting the Pirates up 6-1, a lead they would not relinquish. Crookston had two less goals than KCC had shots on goal, and their constant offensive pressure allowed them to cruise to a 6-1 win on Tuesday night.

Crookston improves to 10-7-1 on the year, 6-3-1 in the section and will have a stretch of days without a game before playing Park Rapids on Monday. Kittson County Central drops to 5-10-1, 2-6 in section play.
For postgame comments from Pirate head coach Josh Hardy and senior Connor Hanson, click below.

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Crookston	1	4	1	6
Kittson Co. Central	0	1	0	1

1st Period
16:22 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Grant Funk)

2nd Period
1:10 – Crookston – Jay Reese (unassisted)
9:56 – KCC – Wyatt Samuelson (Ozander Andrade, Gus Gunnarson)
11:02 – Crookston – Greyson Ecker (Garrett Fischer, Jay Reese)
12:24 – Crookston – Connor Hanson (Ryan Street, Teagen Lubinski)
16:25 – Crookston – Connor Hanson (unassisted)

3rd Period
12:00 – Crookston – Riley Benson (Jay Reese, Teagen Lubinski)