CROOKSTON GIRL’S HOCKEY SQUANDERS TWO-GOAL LEAD IN LOSS TO DEVILS LAKE                                    

The Crookston Pirates girl’s hockey team scored two goals in the first period but gave up three goals in the second period of a 3-2 loss to the Devils Lake Firebirds in a non-section game played at the Crookston Sports Center.
Crookston found the net with their first shot on goal of the night after a Devils Lake defender overskated the puck, Catherine Tiedemann had a breakaway and deked the puck from backhand to forehand before shooting the puck into the net giving Crookston a 1-0 lead with 9:33 left in the first period. Despite Devils Lake outshooting Crookston 18-6 in the first period, the Pirates’ Grace Koshney made 18 first-period saves as Crookston remained ahead 1-0. “For whatever reason, we’ve struggled to start games all season,” said Crookston head coach Tim Moe. “Catherine just found that loose puck at the blue line and found open ice, as she so often does. She’s got an extra gear to her and was able to skate right by their defenseman and made a nice deke on the goaltender. I’ve been telling her in practice not to shoot so much on those breakaways and I was pleased to see her use a nice deke to get that first goal tonight. We did a little breakaway drill in practice yesterday and I think her success in that drill gave her some confidence going into this game.” Late in the period, a clearance from Taylor Garrett to Nora Peterson found Catherine Tiedemann just past center ice. Tiedemann skated with the puck into the slot and fired a shot under the Firebirds’ netminder giving Crookston a 2-0 lead with 24-seconds left in the period allowing the Pirates to take a two-goal lead into the intermission. “Nora did a nice job finding Catherine on that second one,” said Moe. “She sent Catherine in all alone and Catherine made a nice couple moves on their goaltender for each of those two goals in the first. I was talking to Nora and Catherine about them playing on the wings and finding open ice and I was glad to see that adjustment works because that’s how we drew it up.”
Devils Lake dominated possession and shots on goal in the second period leading to a late flurry of goals to gain the lead. With 6:23 left in the second period, Elle Black was set up in the slot for a one-timer by Abby Reule allowing Black to slap the shot into the back of the net cutting the deficit down to 2-1. With 2:21 left in the period, Devils Lake tied the game at 2-2 when Kaylie Klemetsrud scored from just outside of the crease for her 16th goal of the season. Just nine-seconds later with 2:12 left in the period, the Firebirds took the lead when Abbey Reule scored from Elle Black giving the visitors a 3-2 lead after two periods of play. “I honestly think we just don’t understand how to play in the second period,” noted Moe. “We continue to struggle with those longer changes. We had a lot of issues tonight and we practice that. We do a drill just on changing lines, but our girls stay out on the ice too long in that second period and those tired legs lead to breakdowns which is what allowed Devils Lake to gain the lead. For whatever reason, we just have trouble getting off the ice, but we’re going to have to keep working at it. We’re going to have to figure it out because we can’t keep falling behind in that second period because we’re taking two or two-and-a-half minute shifts.”
Crookston played much better in the third period, but Molly Black had an answer in net for all of the Pirates’ nine shots in the final period as Devils Lake hung on for a 3-2 win. “We just couldn’t find any more offensive success the rest of the game after that first period,” summarized Moe. “We can’t just rely on Catherine Tiedemann for all our scoring and just focus on getting her the puck at all times, we need other girls to step up in the offensive zone and I thought we did better at that in the third period, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough tonight. They’re a pretty good team and have improved a lot since we saw them last season. I was happy with some things, but we certainly have some things we still need to clean up. We just didn’t get the bounce to come to our stick to bury that tying goal.”
The Pirates fall to 2-9-1 this season and return to the ice on Thursday when Crookston hosts Jamestown at 6:30 p.m. on KROX. Devils Lake improves to 5-5-0 this year.  

1st Period
9:33 – Crookston – Catherine Tiedemann  (10)  unassisted
:24 – Crookston – Catherine Tiedemann  (11)   (Nora Peterson)

2nd Period
6:23 – Devils Lake – Elle Black (Abbey Reule)
2:21 – Devils Lake – Kaylie Klemetsrud (Elle Black, Haylee Carlson)
2:12 – Devils Lake – Abbey Reule (Elle Black)

3rd Period
No Scoring