Trailing 4-0 with eight minutes to go in the second period, the Crookston Pirates rallied with three unanswered to close the gap to 4-3 with six and a half minutes to go in the game, but they couldn’t get the equalizer as the Warroad Warriors hung on to a 4-3 Section 8A victory at the Hockey Town Holiday Classic at the Gardens in Warroad.
FIRST PERIOD
The first period was back and forth for the most part, with both teams having some chances of scoring, although not a lot of shots on the net, which were being steered aside by Pirates Kambelle Freije and Warroad’s Payton Rolli. Crookston had an early Grade A chance about nine minutes into the period when Kaylie Clauson was parked in the low slot in Warroad’s zone, and she got the pass from Emma LaPlante and fired quickly but right into Rolli to keep it 0-0. Warroad would get in the scoring column first when Sophie Johnson tipped a Katy Comstock shot past Freije on their first power play to make it 1-0. “That was a lucky tip for them,” said Crookston head coach Emily Meyer, “they planted two kids in front of them, and it was hard for Kambelle to see around and where to move. We must do a better job of moving people before Kambelle so she can do her job.” With about two minutes left in the period, Reese Swanson just about tied it up with a blistering shot that rang off the crossbar but off and out. “I thought we played a good first period, and we have to guard against a letdown in the second period, which has been a shortfall for us lately,” said Meyer. Warroad led 1-0 after the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The letdown in the second period seems to be a ‘thing’ for Crookston lately, as it continued this afternoon. Warroad scored three goals in four minutes to break it open. Kaiya Sandy was in the slot, received a pass, and snapped a beauty top shelf to make it 2-0 just short of the five-minute mark. Sophie Johnson would get her second goal of the game two minutes later on a scramble in front of the Crookston goal, and Johnson managed to find the puck and sneak it past to put Warroad up 3-0. The Warriors weren’t done as Jaylie French, who had seven goals and three assists in the first two games in the Holiday Classic, set up Maddie Skogman, who was in the circle to the right of Freije, and Warroad had a big player planted in front to screen. Freije didn’t see the shot until it went in, and it was a 4-0 lead with eight minutes to go in the second period. That would be the last goal Warroad would score, but the question was, could the Pirates hold them scoreless, and could Crookston score some goals? “We went into the locker room after the first period and told the girls we couldn’t let up for this period, which has happened lately,” said Meyer. “We tend to sit and watch the other teams outwork us. We let that happen on their rushes, their weak side wing flying into the neutral zone, and we have to be more aware of that and clear out in front of the net when they were on the power play. It was killing us.” Crookston would break into the scoring column themselves on a shortened power play. Crookston took a penalty and was in the process of killing it off when Warroad drew a penalty with five seconds left on the Crookston violation. With one second left on the Crookston penalty, Addie Fee won a draw in the Warroad zone back to Cassie Solheim, who would usually take the draw as she was on defense in the short-handed situation. Solheim didn’t waste any time and snapped a shot that fluttered up in the air and over the goalie to make it a 4-1 game. “I was taking the draw because Cassie was on defense,” said Fee, “I won the draw to Cassie and then crashed the net, and I saw her shot trickle in over the goalie’s shoulder.” Warroad still led 4-1 after the second period, but Crookston’s late goal brought them a spark. “It was a big goal for us,” said Meyer, “I couldn’t believe it; she shot, and it went over the goalie’s shoulder, and we needed that.”
THIRD PERIOD
Crookston would score about halfway through the third period when Morgan Nelson made a perfect pass to Kaylie Clauson about the same spot she was stopped in the first period, but this time, Clauson let it go quickly in the perfect place to make it a 4-2 score with Warroad in front. “Morgan has had a tremendous three games here in Warroad,” said Meyer, “she’s played her position well, makes the good read when to pinch or not. It’s good to see her play at this higher level.” Crookston started showing their speed when Taylor Field blew into the Warroad zone and was robbed on a save by Rolli. Crookston, who were 0-6 on power plays yesterday in a win over Rosemount, was 0-5 on the power play today until the Pirate’s Reese Swanson, who took over in the third period, scored a signature goal. Coming out of her end, past two forechecking Warriors walked into the Warroad zone and let a 48 mph wrister beat Rolli, and it was 4-3 Warroad after the power play goal with six and a half minutes to go in regulation. “That’s what we need Reese to do,” said Meyer, “We needed her to step up, and it was a glimpse of seeing the old Reese back, finding that groove, and getting that confidence back. When she starts grinding, she looks sharp.”
Crookston fought hard, called a timeout late, and pulled their goalie and couldn’t get any good chances to tie it, with Warroad finishing it off by trying to score long distance into an open net but didn’t succeed, but they held on to the 4-3 win to split their two games this year at 1-1. “I thought if Crookston would have won, they would be the number one seed at tournament time,” said Warroad coach David Marvin. “If we won, I thought we would look at comparable scores and the like, and we could possibly be the number one seed. It’s still a way to go, so seeing how it all shakes out will be interesting.” Crookston falls to 11-4-1 on the season. “I liked the way the team battled back in the third period,” said Meyer, “we gained confidence through that period and just couldn’t get that next goal. It was a great game between two great teams.” It was revenge for Warroad after a 2-0 loss at Crookston early in December. “Warroad got better moving it into our zone and working it around,” said Fee, “they were also better defensively, but I think it was just us. We weren’t taking it to them and watching them instead of attacking them.” Barring any big upsets, a third meeting could be in store for the two teams, which would be in the Section 8A championship.
Crookston is hosting the 8A tournament semi-finals and final at the Crookston Sports Center. “I think both of us will be meeting that Thursday night for the Section Championship,” said Marvin.
The All-Tournament team was announced:
MVP – Jaylie French – Warroad
Forwards – Jocelyn Field- Crookston, Analee Holzer-Rosemount, Kaiya Sandy-Warroad
Defense – Jaylie French and Katy Comstock – Warroad
Goalie – Payton Rolli- Warroad
Crookston is 11-4-1 on the year and has a week off from playing games, and next weekend, they have a couple of tough ones. Friday, they will play at Northfield, who are undefeated at 12-0 and ranked #8 in the State Class AA rankings. On Saturday, the Pirates will play Gentry Academy, who are 4-9 on the season.
Warroad improves to 10-3 on the year and will be at Bemidji on Tuesday and on the road next weekend at St. Cloud and Brainerd-Little Falls. Warroad will play their next six games on the road and finish with their last six at home!
JV – Warroad won 9-3
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Scoring
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1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
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Final
|
|
Crookston
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0
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
|
Warroad
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
1st Period
12:15 -Warroad-Sophie Johnson (Katy Comstock, Karlee Kalbrener) PP
2nd Period
4:46 – Warroad – Kaiya Sandy unassisted
6:38 – Warroad – Sophie Johnson (Mikayla Curtis, Katy Comstock)
8:55 – Warroad – Madilyn Skogman unassisted
14:21 – Crookston – Cassie Solheim (Addie Fee)
3rd Period
7:05 – Crookston – Kaylie Clauson (4) (Morgan Nelson)
10:22 – Crookston – Reese Swanson (4) unassisted
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Saves
|
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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Total
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|
Kambelle Freije – Crox
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4
|
9
|
6
|
19 |
| Payton Rolli – Warroad | 8 | 4 | 8 | 20 |
