CROOKSTON PIRATE BOY’S SOCCER WINS FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON

Crookston scored early in the first half and led the majority of the opening 40-minutes. 2:49 into the match, Ben Brantner curved a corner kick off of the Hibbing-Chisholm goalkeeper and into the net giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. “(Ben Brantner) kicked it and it actually had a little curve on it,” explained Crookston head coach Lon Boike. “It started coming back in towards the goal, and their goalie misjudged or misplayed it, and Ben actually ended up scoring on the corner kick. I think it maybe surprised the goalie. It had a little bend coming off the shot. The wind maybe helped it a little bit too.” Just prior to halftime, Hibbing-Chisholm’s Hunter Carpenter dribbled through the Pirates’ defense and fired a shot into the net tying the game at 1-1 going into halftime. “They got that goal, and it was a little frustrating,” noted Boike. “I think the boys felt like they were the better team and we just had to go out and prove it in the second half.”

Crookston scored early in the second frame after Jacob Brunelle regained the Pirates’ lead with a goal 4:02 into the second half giving Crookston a 2-1 advantage. “Ben Brantner brought the ball up from midfield and kicked a long ball to the opposite side to Jacob Brunelle,” said Boike. “It was just Jacob, and the goalie and Jacob made a little move. The goalie went down, and Jacob popped it over the goalie. The goalie did get a hand on it, and the ball just trickled into the goal.” Crookston goalkeeper Kaleb Thingelstad stopped all ten shots he face in the second half protecting Crookston’s lead and preserving the Pirates’ 2-1 lead. “I just thought we played so well defensively,” summarized Boike. “We spent Monday (practice) on it quite a while and again yesterday. We knew we had a good chance to hopefully get two (wins) this weekend. I was just really proud that this went well. The kids played really well and took it to them.”