The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team played a solid all-around game, but the Tartan Titans scored a third-period goal and added another in overtime to win the game 2-1 at Thief River Falls’ Ralph Englestad Arena.
FIRST PERIOD
Crookston started the game strong with the first three shots on goal. Tartan was able to get a shot on goal in the first five minutes of the period when they had a semi-breakaway and the puck slipped off the stick of the Titan and hit the left post and the game remained scoreless. Crookston had several scoring opportunities as they peppered the net with 13 shots on goal in the period and were finally able to find the back of the net as a pass went back to the point and Tate Hamre blasted a shot into the net for a 1-0 lead 4:44 left in the period. Crookston had two power plays and had a lot of shots on goal, but wasn’t able to score. Tartan had one power play and couldn’t score on their lone opportunity and the Pirates took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
Crookston started the second period with several shots on goal. It was the start of an impressive all-around period as the Pirate defense was outstanding. Crookston’s defense only allowed two shots on goal in the period, and a lot of the credit has to go to the four defenseman, including Isaiah Donarski, who deflected two shots, on what would have been great scoring chances. The back-checking by the Pirates was impressive throughout the period, as Tartan had several passes that were tipped in front of the net, and they were able to keep Tartan from getting any quality shots on goal.
After 17 minutes of play, Crookston had only allowed two shots on goal and led 1-0 going into the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
The third period was a defensive battle, as the teams combined for only seven shots on goal. A lot of the shots came in the final minutes of the period. Crookston had a shot in front of the net that missed the net with 1:15 left in the period. Tartan had a shot on goal with 55 seconds left, and Crookston goalie Brady Chandler made the save. With 30 seconds left in regulation, Crookston’s Chandler made another big-time save, and the game was tied at 1-1 at the end of the regulation.
OVERTIME
22 seconds into overtime, Crookston’s Jay Reese got a pass in front of the net and fired a shot on goal, but Tartan’s Nathan McGuire made the save. Tartan came back less than a minute later and had a breakaway, but Brady Chandler made a great kick save. Just a few seconds later, Tartan’s Benny McClellan stole the puck and passed to Devon Shier, who made an outstanding move around a Pirate defenseman and had the puck in front of the net and wristed a shot into the right side of the net to win the game 2-1.
Crookston drops to 7-2-1 on the year and will travel to Park Rapids for a Section 8A game on Monday, January 5. Tartan improves to 6-6 on the year.
J.V. – Tied 3-3
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
| Crookston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Tartan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
1st Period
12:16 – Crookston – Tate Hamre (Gavin Aakhus, Jay Reese)
2nd Period
No scoring
3rd Period
6:39 – Tartan – Benny McClellan (Charley Campbell, Tyler Pavel)
Overtime
1:54 – Tartan – Devon Shier (Benny McClennen)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Total |
| Nathan McGuire-Tar | 12 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 32 |
| Brady Chandler – Crox | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
