The Crookston Pirate Girls’ Soccer scored three second-half goals, their first goals of the season, to defeat the Melrose Dutchmen 3-1 in a Section 8A matchup played at KROX Radio Stadium in Crookston.
FIRST HALF –
The Melrose Dutchmen had first possession but were stifled thanks to the great defense by the Crookston Pirates. The first half was almost entirely spent in the attacking zone, with the Pirates getting three consecutive scoring chances within the first five minutes. Brooklyn Waldal turned on the jets and flew down the far sideline, avoiding defenders and looking for the crossing pass. She decided to take the shot herself and just missed. Both teams struggled to move the ball through midfield for a bit, as both defenses prevented anything from getting through. Crookston’s Jennika Reese had a great chance with just over 10 minutes left in the half, but the Melrose goalkeeper made the save. With just a few minutes left in the half, the Pirates’ Madelyn Knutson found herself in a prime spot to strike, but the shot just missed. Time dwindled away on the clock, and the half ended in a scoreless tie.
SECOND HALF –
The Pirates received the ball to start the second half, and they got to work early, picking up right where they left off. After two quick chances, the pirates suddenly found themselves on the defensive. The Dutchmen traveled down the field, for the first time challenging Shyuh Burnette, but she made the stop. Burnette booted the ball down the field, finding Kinsley Wangen, who quickly moved it ahead to Madelyn Knutson, who dropped the ball back to Wangen, then to Jennika Reese who took the outside corner and found herself with an open lane. Reese fired a shot over the hands of the goaltender, scoring the first Pirates’ goal of the season and breaking the scoreless tie in the 49th minute.
The Pirates kept the offensive pressure on as Brooklyn Waldal had another chance streaking down the near side. She turned the corner and fired a cross-pass to Madelyn Knutson, but was denied by a sliding goalkeeper. A few minutes later, Waldal sent a pass through to Madelyn Knutson. Knutson sped past defenders, and took a shot on the net, that was stopped.
After a few moments of back-and-forth, Hailey Fritz pulled the ball forward, finding Knutson at midfield. Knutson turned and split two defenders, then turned upfield and pulled ahead of both defenders. Knutson made her shot count, firing it into the upper-right-hand corner to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the 67th minute.
Less than three minutes later, the Dutchmen went on the offensive. They moved the ball forward past the Pirates’ defense, and the ball fell to Janira Barragan who snuck a shot into the net and the Dutchmen cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 69th minute.
The momentum was now shifted to the Dutchmen, as they tried to tie the game with under 10 minutes to go. Melody Morelos received the ball from a corner kick and got a shot off and narrowly missed the net. Another chance came from Linsey Martinez, who fired the ball on goal but Burnette saved it. After the offensive drive from the Dutchmen was stopped, the game slowed down, with neither side budging through the middle. With under four minutes left, Knutson was tackled from behind as she took the ball just outside the goalie box. She was awarded a free kick. She stepped forward and fired the ball over the wall of Dutchmen defenders, and found the left-hand corner of the net for her second goal of the game. The Dutchmen, now facing a deficit of two goals, drove back down the field and were awarded a freekick with under 20 seconds remaining. They couldn’t get the ball spotted in time, and time ticked down until the final horn sounded, and Crookston won the game 3-1.
Crookston improves to 1-3 on the season and will take on the East Grand Forks Green Wave on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Melrose drops to 0-6.
Head Coach Sarah Reese’s Comments are below-
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Melrose | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Crookston | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Scoring –
49:57 – Crookston – Jennika Reese (Brooklyn Waldal, Kinsley Wangen)
66:59 – Crookston – Madelyn Knutson ( Hailey Fritz)
69:21 – Melrose – Janira Barragan
76:08 – Crookston – Madelyn Knutson
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Shyuh Burnette – Crox | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Nichole Rademacher – Melrose | 12 | 7 | 19 |
