The Crookston Pirate Girls Hockey team was faced with a challenging task against the #6 in Class AA Bemidji Lumberjacks, and the Lumberjacks flexed their might en route to a 9-2 route over the Pirates at the Crookston Sports Center on Tuesday night.
FIRST PERIOD
The Lumberjacks went right to work against the Pirates, firing five shots in the first two minutes on Madi Abrams. Although she was able to stop all of those, she couldn’t stop Ella-Mae Swanberg, who fired one from the blue line to give Bemidji a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Bergen Bakke scored on a great pass to go up 2-0. A couple of minutes later, Bailey Rupp, one of the best teenage female hockey players in the country, showcased her talents, scoring two unassisted goals in 49 seconds, giving the Lumberjacks a 4-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. The Pirates found an answer at 10:42 with Aubrey Bartrum cashing in a rebound, putting the Pirates on the board. However, the Lumberjacks weren’t done, and they proceeded to score two goals in the final two minutes. The first came from Rupp, scoring a first-period unassisted hat trick, and then the second goal from Bergen Bakke made it 6-1 at the end of the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period went a lot better than the first period for the Pirates, who came out with a lot more energy. They were more physical on the forecheck and prevented the Lumberjacks from getting many shots on goal. After the Pirates killed a power play, they got one of their own, and Adley Vigness was able to score unassisted to cut the lead down to 6-2. The rest of the period played very defensively for both sides, but the Lumberjacks got another power play later in the period, their third of the game, and third time would be the charm, and a slick tic-tac-toe passing play allowed Megen Berg to cash in on the power play with under three minutes left, making the score 7-2, which would stick at the end of the period.
THIRD PERIOD
As the third period began, Bemidji started to rotate more reserves into the game, giving their top lines more gaps between shifts. However, when Bailey Rupp came on the ice, she made the most of it, scoring at 5:07 for her fourth of the game, sending the game to running time with an 8-2 Lumberjack advantage. Crookston got 4 shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the period, but none in the final 7 minutes of the period, as the Lumberjack defense stood up to the Pirates. Bemidji tacked on a shorthanded goal in the final two minutes from Naomi Johnson, and the Lumberjacks cruised to a 9-2 victory.
Crookston falls to 4-8 on the season and will be off until December 29 when they play at Warroad. Bemidji improves to 8-1.
JV-Bemidji won 6-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Bemidji | 6 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| Crookston | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
1st Period
2:59 – Bemidji – Ella-Mae Swanberg (Millie Knott)
4:34 – Bemidji – Bergen Bakke (Jacinda Lossing)
5:39 – Bemidji – Bailey Rupp
6:28 – Bemidji – Bailey Rupp
10:42 – Crookston – Aubrey Bartrum (Shyuh Burnette)
15:17 – Bemidji – Bailey Rupp
16:50 – Bemidji – Bergen Bakke (Millie Knott, Ella-Mae Swanberg)
2nd Period
8:29 – Crookston (PP) – Adley Vigness
14:28 – Bemidji (PP) – Megan Berg (Ella-Mae Swanberg, Bailey Rupp)
3rd Period
5:07 – Bemidji – Bailey Rupp (Millie Knott)
15:15 – Bemidji (SH) – Naomi Johnson (Bailey Rupp, Millie Knott)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Lily Lauer – Bemidji | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| Madi Abrams – Crox | 8 | 9 | 7 | 24 |
