The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team opens the 2025-26 season with an impressive 7-0 victory over the Kittson County Central Bearcats in a Section 8A matchup in Hallock.
FIRST PERIOD
The first five minutes of the game were an exciting, back-and-forth hockey match, with each team having a quality scoring chance. As the period progressed, Crookston began to control the play and started getting more shots on goal. There were several quality scoring chances, but Bearcat goalie David Kaul was stopping everything. KCC was called for a penalty about seven minutes into the game. The Bearcats killed the penalty, but shortly after, they were called for another penalty. This time, Crookston made them pay as Gavin Aakhus got a pass from Isaiah Donarksi and tried a one-time. The shot was saved, but the rebound bounced out in front of a wide-open net, and Masen Reitmeier slapped the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead.
2:13 later, Crookston’s Garrett Fischer got the puck in the middle of the circle and spun and rifled a shot that snuck by everybody and went top shelf to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
A little over a minute later, Dylan Larson put a shot on goal, and the rebound bounced out, and Evan Shockman knocked the rebound in for a 3-0 lead.
35 seconds later, Crookston skated into the Bearcat zone, and Fischer scored again to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead, capping four goals in a four-minute and three-second span. The Pirates took a 4-0 lead into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
The second period was a carbon copy of the first, as the teams skated up and down the ice for the first five to seven minutes before Crookston started to control play for the rest of the period. Crookston’s Garrett Fischer got a pass and flew up the ice, crossed into the Bearcat zone, and made a beautiful move with some fancy stickhandling and a toe drag before whistling a wrist shot into the net for his third goal of the game to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead.
Less than four minutes later, Crookston’s Grant Funk blasted a shot from the point that found the back of the net for a 6-0 lead. Crookston added another goal a little over three minutes later as Grant Funk fired a shot from the point and scored for a 7-0 lead. Crookston took the seven-goal lead into the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
Crookston continued to control play and had a couple of scoring chances in the first couple of minutes, but KCC’s David Kaul made the saves. Crookston was able to play everybody on the roster, and the second and third lines looked solid, with several scoring chances throughout the period. Neither team was able to score in the third period and Crookston held on to win the game 7-0. Crookston senior goalie Brady Chandler made 14 saves in the game to start the season with a shutout.
Crookston improves to 1-0 on the year, 1-0 in Section 8A play, and will host Red Lake Falls in another Section 8A game on Friday at 5:00 p.m. at the Crookston Sports Center. The game will be on KROX Radio and KROX TV. Kittson County Central drops to 0-1 on the year and will travel to Mayville on Tuesday, December 2 to take on May-Port.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Crookston | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Kittson Co. Central | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1st Period
9:44 – Crookston – Masen Reitmeier (Gavin Aakhus, Isaiah Donarski) (PP)
11:57 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (Isaiah Donarski, Jay Reese)
13:12 – Crookston – Evan Shockman (Dylan Larson)
13:47 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (2) (Jay Reese, Greyson Ecker)
2nd Period
8:42 – Crookston – Garrett Fischer (3) (Tate Hamre, Greyson Ecker) (PP)
12:13 – Crookston – Grant Funk (Jay Reese, Masen Reitmeier)
15:36 – Crookston – Grant Funk (2) unassisted
3rd Period
No scoring
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| David Kaul – KCC | 17 | 12 | 6 | 35 |
| Brady Chandler- Crox | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
