The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Soccer team opened up their season with a hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Fergus Falls Otters in a match played at the Crookston High School Soccer field.
The first half started with teams feeling each other out. It was the season opener for both teams, and it took a few minutes for each team to string together some passes. Most of the first half was played in the middle third of the field. Crookston was utilizing multiple substitutions in the forward positions. “We were trying different people in that offensive space to create some action and some synergy,” said Coach Sarah Reese. Crookston’s offense was just not clicking with not much to show besides a few long, low-danger shots. Fergus Falls applied more pressure in the first half, getting a few shots on Reese Swanson in net before Olivia Jurgens was able to break the scoreless tie. Jurgens chipped the ball from the right top corner of the box over Swanson and placed it perfectly below the cross bar to get the Otters on the board at the nine minute mark. The rest of the first half was mainly played in the middle third of the field, with both teams struggling to find space to get any offensive zone pressure. The Otters were able to have one more high danger chance in the first half, when Madilynn Budke streaked down the left side of the field, centered it and Ella Starzl volleyed it right on net. Fortunately for Crookston, Reese Swanson had impeccable ball-tracking and positioning to keep this game from getting away from the Pirates. The half would end with Fergus Falls up 1-0.
In the second half, the Pirate’s defense locked down the Otters, minimizing the high-scoring opportunities. “Our defense is basically all new,” said Coach Reese, “they did really well playing good help defense, pressuring the ball, help coving.” The second half defense was rock solid, only allowing outside shots. Reese Swanson would have a great second half, shutting out the Otters. Crookston’s transition game started to show some signs of life. Coach Reese mentioned Cassie Solheim moved back from forward to midfielder, and it seemed to be the right move, as she was able to send multiple balls through the defense to spring multiple forwards. “She is a fantastic ball-distributor,” said Coach Reese, “she does a great job taking the ball from the defense, going to it and transitioning it out.” Unfortunately, a few offsides would stop the Pirates from being able to capitalize on these opportunities. The Pirates would get some chances on net, including a corner kick opportunity, but could not find the back of the net.
Even with the loss, Coach Reese was very happy with the performance of her team. “I’m really excited about the whole team, I see so many great opportunities.” said Coach Reese.
Crookston drops to 0-1 on the year and will play Fergus Falls Hillcrest on Tuesday.
Fergus Falls is now 1-0 on the year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Fergus Falls | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scoring
8:23 – FF – Olivia Jurgens
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Reese Swanson – Crox | 4 | 10 | 15 |
| Rylynn Krein – FF | 2 | 2 | 4 |
