sports

CROOKSTON GIRL’S SOCCER PLAYS SOLID FIRST HALF, BUT FALLS TO FERGUS FALLS HILLCREST

September 24, 2020

The Crookston Pirate girls’ soccer team played solid offensively in the first half and did enough defensively to stay in the game. Still, the Fergus Falls Hillcrest Academy Comets came away with a 2-0 win on Thursday afternoon at the Crookston High School soccer fields. It marked the final home game of the regular season for the Pirates.

FIRST HALF –
Both teams went back and forth in the middle third of the pitch for the first 15 or so minutes, but the Comets eventually got the ball in the Pirates’ zone and took advantage. Junior Julianna Claney scored her first goal of the season off of an assist from Alivia Holmquist. That gave the Comets a 1-0 lead at the 16:15 mark. The Pirates were not phased, however. Crookston spent most of the first half on the Comets’ side of the pitch and kept charging offensively. The Pirates had five shots-on-goal in the first 40 minutes, but none were incredibly close to finding the net. “We had a lot more offensive opportunities in the first half,” Crookston head coach Sarah Reese said. “Having said that, I don’t think we necessarily capitalized on our opportunities. So, we had the quantity, but we didn’t have the quality. We got off a lot of what I would call ‘half-shots,’ where you kick it and hope and not making their keeper work for that save.”

SECOND HALF –
Both offenses again got off to a slow start in the second half, but Hillcrest Lutheran Academy took advantage of one early opportunity. Senior Taylor Kiss had a breakaway into the Pirates’ zone and snuck a short goal between two defenders to put the Comets ahead 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half. “We didn’t necessarily have good pressure defensively,” Reese said of the Comets’ second goal. “It seemed like we had a bit of a communication mishap. Our defense is very well known for help defense, and we play interchangeably really well. Unfortunately, on that second goal, we didn’t have that help defense in that fill-in role, and so by virtue, (Kiss) just split our defense.” Crookston tried to emulate their offensive rhythm from the first half but wound up with just one shot-on-goal in the final 40 minutes. “We were doing a better job in the second half of getting the ball down the field,” Reese said. “But, we weren’t able to transition from the corner into that shot where the goalkeeper would have to work for that save.”

After an at-times lethargic second half on the offensive end Thursday, Coach Reese asked her team to think about the best way to maintain a high level of energy through each game that they have left. “I thought that when we played East Grand Forks (on Monday), we played a very high caliber game,” Reese said. “Just very good team defense and transitions. We put all of the little things together. So, we need that high-energy play, no matter who we play. We need that to carry through to each game. We want to steer away from those highs and lows in our energy. We had great energy at the start of the year, and we need to get back to that. But, I give our team a lot of credit for not giving up and not throwing in the towel. We were working to push the ball up the field. We were shooting, but our shots weren’t falling. They were going everywhere, except where we wanted them.”

The Pirates fall to 2-6 on the season and will head to Pelican Rapids on Monday for a match at 3:30 p.m. The Pirates’ last win, a 5-1 outcome, came against Pelican Rapids in Crookston on September 8.
Fergus Falls Hillcrest Academy won their third straight game and improve to 4-2 on the year.