CROOKSTON BOY’S SOCCER OPENS SEASON WITH LOSS TO PELICAN RAPIDS

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Soccer team pitched a shutout in the second half, but five first-half goals were more than enough for the Pelican Rapids Vikings to cruise to a 5-0 victory at the Crookston High School Soccer Fields on a blustery Tuesday afternoon.  “We knew Pelican Rapids would be really good,” Crookston head coach Lon Boike said afterward. “They beat us twice last year. It was tough going into the wind, especially in that first half. I thought we got better in the second half, and that’s what we want to see. Improvement.” 

FIRST HALF
Pelican Rapids got off to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes, and tacking on three more in the final 17 minutes of the opening half. Each of the Vikings’ five goals were scored by a different player. Sophomore striker Daniel Urbano scored the first goal, while junior striker Hamsa Ishowa scored the next. Later in the first half, senior midfielder Khadar Ibrahim and junior strikers Mohamed Ahmed and Jesus Moreno each added a goal to pad the Vikings’ lead heading into halftime. Crookston senior goalie Kaleb Thingelstad had 14 saves in the first half. The Pirates finished with 19 saves as a team.

SECOND HALF
After taking 14 shots in the first half, Pelican Rapids was limited to just five shots-on-goal in the second. Crookston, however, was held to just four total shots all game, including two from freshman midfielder Ashton Shockman. Boike was pleased with his team’s defensive effort in the second half, but knows the Pirates have to get better offensively. He also attributes offensive struggles to 30 mph winds that lasted throughout the game. “The wind had a lot to do with (offensive struggles),” Boike said. “That really slowed us down in the first half, and slowed (Pelican Rapids) down a little in the second half. I think we got better defensively, too. I was happy with the way they played. We have to get better offensively. We struggled with that last year, too. I didn’t think our passing was very sharp.”

Crookston drops to 0-1 on the year and will hit the road on Thursday to face East Grand Forks. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be carried live on KROX with pregame starting at 6:30 p.m. “East Grand Forks lost 12 seniors from last year,” Boike said. “So, hopefully we’ll have more confidence going in. Hopefully, we’ll build off of the second half here, where we didn’t allow any goals, and hopefully we’ll create some opportunities. We don’t anticipate scoring a ton of goals this year, but if we can get 2-3 in the net and play defense after that, that’s kind of what we’re hoping to do.”
Pelican Rapids improves to 2-0 on the year after beating Detroit Lakes 7-0 in their first game.

J.V. – Pelican Rapids won 6-0

Scoring:
12:00 – Pelican Rapids – Daniel Urbano  (Khadar Ibrahim)
16:00 – Pelican Rapids – Hamsa Ishowa
22:00 – Pelican Rapids – Khadar Ibrahim  (Abdi Isse)
30:00 – Pelican Rapids -Mohamed Ahmed  (Khadar Ibrahim)
36:00 – Pelican Rapids – Jesus Moreno