sports

CROOKSTON PIRATE BOYS HOCKEY WINS IN OVERTIME OVER PARK RAPIDS 2-1

January 29, 2024

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team closed out January with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Park Rapids Panthers at the Crookston Sports Center.

FIRST PERIOD
In the first, Park Rapids was able to cash in on a turnover as Jeron Pinoniemi sent a pass to the middle, which Kale Ravnaas was met by Parker Kelly, who knocked the puck away from Ravnaas. Still, Parker Vinge swooped in and buried the puck into the open net for an early 1-0 Park Rapids lead. Right after that, Jay Reese and Garrett Fischer each had chances in front to tie the game, but Park Rapids’ netminder Sawyer Torkelson denied them both to keep the lead for the Panthers. Both teams would exchange some shots as the period went on. The Pirates would get another opportunity as Fischer once again walked to the front of the net and fired a shot, but Torkelson shut the door again as Jackson Reese was also there trying to punch the rebound through. Later in the period, Jay Reese slipped a pass over to Ryan Street, who sent a shot on net from a sharp angle, but Torkelson once again made a nice save. The Panthers would get a couple of shots on net, but Kelly matched Torkelson with making saves. Park Rapids would hold a 1-0 lead heading into the second.

SECOND PERIOD
In the second, Greyson Ecker, a few minutes into the period, slashed to the middle and fired a shot on the net that Torkelson could save to keep it a one-goal game. Later on, Teagen Lubinski sent a pass across to Tate Hamre in the Pirates defensive zone, which Hamre blasted off the near boards into the Pirates offensive zone, where Ryan Street was able to chase down the puck and drilled the puck into the net to tie the game at one. After that, Crookston would go on the power play as the game’s first penalty was called. The Panthers killed off almost all of the penalty but with three seconds left on the Pirates man advantage, Park Rapids was called for another penalty. Park Rapids would kill off both power plays for the Pirates, as Crookston played nearly four straight minutes with a man advantage. Torkelson and Kelly were called upon to make key saves for their sides to keep the game tied at one. Both teams couldn’t find the back of the net for the remainder of the period as they headed to the third tied.

THIRD PERIOD
In the third, Jay Reese and Riley Benson fired a couple of quick shots on net, which Torkelson saved to keep the game tied in the first two minutes of the period. Later in the period, Finn Henry fired a shot off Parker Kelly’s pad. The puck went right to Quinn Hoscheid, who sent the puck toward the open net, but Kelly came across the crease to make the save and keep the game tied at one. Park Rapids would get called for another penalty later in the third period, sending Crookston to the power play with about five minutes left in the game. For the third time in the game, the Panthers killed off the Pirates power play to keep the game tied at one. Blake Melsa sent a shot to the net that Torkelson turned aside. Crookston maintained possession for a little but the Pirates couldn’t get a shot on goal. Park Rapids had a couple of shot attempts with a few seconds left, but neither of them was on the net as the teams would go to overtime for the second time this month.

OVERTIME
In overtime, Kadin Edwards got a couple of shots off on Torkelson, but he stopped both of his shots. Crookston would get called for their only penalty of the game as Park Rapids had the man advantage. Halfway through the power play, Park Rapids called their timeout before a neutral zone faceoff. Parker Kelly would stop a couple of Panthers shots before the Pirates killed off the power play. Brandon Colborn would get the puck into the offensive zone by sending a pass across to Garrett Fischer, who was cutting to the net. Fischer made a couple of stick handles before sending a shot that Torkelson saved. Later, Jeron Pinoniemi had the puck below the goal line for Crookston as he dropped a pass for Joshua Hillukka, who scored the overtime winner in the first matchup of the season between the two sides, tapped the puck in the crease while Kelly was looking the other way. The puck rolled across the crease, and Ty Larson cleared the puck out of harm’s way to keep the game tied. Later in overtime, Riley Benson in the neutral zone, sent a pass across for Blake Melsa, who had the puck caught up in his skates momentarily, then found the puck and fired it up ahead to Garrett Fischer, who just came off the bench. Fischer made a nice move as he headed to the net as he scored the overtime winner for Crookston to give the Pirates a 2-1 victory.

Crookston improves to 10-9-0 on the season and will take on Greenway-Coleraine on Friday on KROX. Park Rapids falls to 10-4-3 on the year and will host Red Lake Falls tomorrow night.

Click here for Coach Hardy’s post-game interview.

Click here for Garrett Fischer’s post-game interview.