CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY’S HOCKEY BLANKED BY THIEF RIVER FALLS

The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Hockey team gave up what proved to be the game-winning goal 26-seconds into a 5-0 loss to the Thief River Falls Prowlers in a Section 8A game played at the Crookston Sports Center.

First Period –
Thief River Falls wasted little time taking control of the game. Just 26-seconds into the game, Evan Bushy sent a pass to Blake Biermaier, who fired the puck into the net, giving the Prowlers a 1-0 lead. “Something we talked about before the game was how important those first five minutes were,” explained Crookston head coach Josh Hardy. “We knew it could set the tone for the rest of the game, and we gave up a bad goal to start the game. We had two guys standing in front of the net, looking the other way, and Blake Biermaier made a no-doubter into the back of the net on an open net. He’s a guy we should’ve picked up. We didn’t start the game particularly well there, but I thought we responded well for a stretch after that.” The visitors bookended the opening period with a second goal. With Thief River Falls on the power play, the Prowlers cycled the puck around the offensive zone before Kadden Bakken chopped in a loose puck near the crease putting Thief River Falls in front 2-0 after one period.

Second Period –
The Prowlers added a third goal just past the midway point of the second period. Brenden Bottem found Evan Bushy, who worked the puck to Zach Dalzell for a goal increasing Thief River Falls lead to 3-0 with 6:46 to play in the second period. Crookston had three power-play opportunities in the second period, one of which continued over from the end of the first period, but generated just two shots on goal in the period as the visitors took a 3-0 lead into the final period. “Thief River Falls does a really nice job in the defensive zone,” noted Hardy. “Those kids buy-in. When you throw in the fact that they have the top goalie in the Section, they’re a tough team to score on.”

Third Period –
The Prowlers added to their lead early in the final period. Ayden Leake scored his first goal of the season of an assist from Isaiah Villareal 2:53 into the third period. Evan Bushy snapped a wrist shot into the net to make it 5-0 with 5:35 to play. Thief River Falls goaltender Noah Rupprecht stopped all 13 shots he faced to secure the shutout as the Prowlers won 5-0. “I’m disappointed,” added Hardy. “I thought we’d compete a little better than we did at times. That was the conversation we had in the locker room (after the game). We’re 0-5 against top 10 teams and 0-7 against top 20 teams. We can say that, but we need to be able to compete in these games. I thought we did that at times tonight, but other times we really struggled.”

Crookston falls to 0-8. The Pirates return to the ice on December 27 when they travel to Thief River Falls to play Fargo North at 7:30 P.M. Thief River Falls improves to 5-4-1.

1st Period
16:34 – TRF – Blake Biermaier (Evan Bushy)
3:44 – TRF – Kaden Bakken (Brendan Bottem, Tucker Skime) (PP)

2nd Period
6:46 – TRF – Zach Dalzell (Evan Bushy, Brenden Bottem)

3rd Period
14:07 – TRF – Ayden Leake (Isaiah Villareal)
5:35 – TRF – Evan Bushy (Brady Skeim, Kaden Bakken)