The Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer team knew they had a tough match ahead, and Bemidji jumped out ahead early and never looked back. As the Lumberjacks would win 8-1 over the Pirates at a game played at the Crookston High School Soccer field.
The first half saw most of the action take place in the Pirates’ end. “We knew coming in they are a really good team.” said Crookston Head Coach Lon Boike. The Pirate’s showed some fatigue in the first half, with this game being the second of a back-to-back, and the Lumberjacks would take advantage scoring four goals by the twenty minute mark. Isaac Stone would net three, and Jacob Stanoch added two of his own to make it 5-0. Bemidji’s defense and midfield would use a great transition to keep the ball from going far in their end after a Pirate’s clear. That quick turnaround to go back on defense would tire out the Pirates early. Eventually, the Pirates started to get balls cleared out of the zone to slow down Bemidji. But there would be more scoring before halftime, as sophomores Conor Stodgell and Reed Johnson would score to make it 7-0. Crookston would get some pressure in the later part of the half. A Jack Everett corner almost fooled Bemidji goalkeeper Connor Helm. Helm had to hug the close post to keep the Pirates scoreless after one half of play. Going into the halftime break down seven, Coach Boike made sure to keep his players spirits up going into the second half. “I told them to work on your game, keep improving, and we set a couple goals for the second half.” said Coach Boike.
The second half saw a new goal keeper for Crookston, as Blake Melsa was taken out as a precaution. “Blake was hurting in goal from last night’s match,” said Coach Boike, “he had a sore leg so we got him out in the second half.” Junior David Threatt would come in to replace Melsa at the start of the half. The Pirates would be able to move the ball around the field in the second half, applying some pressure and keeping Bemidji from sustaining pressure on net like the first half. “I thought our guys played super well in the second half.” said Coach Boike. The Pirates were able to find the back of the net to prevent the shutout. The Pirates had a corner kick, and the ball was not put on net, rather went out to the top left corner of the box to Jack Everett. Everett would send a shot on net to the far right corner to beat Helm and make it 7-1. Bemidji would come back about six minutes later, to get that goal back with Lincoln Schmitt beating Threatt to give the Lumbejacks a 8-1 lead. That would be the final score as Bemidji wins 8-1. “I thought our guys played really well, and we left the game feeling better about ourselves after improving in the second half.” said Coach Boike.
Crookston drops to 0-3 on the year, and will play Melrose on Thursday in Crookston.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Bemidji | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Scoring
4:35 – Bem- Isaac Stone
6:52 – Bem – Isaac Stone
12:49 – Bem – Isaac Stone
13:02 – Bem – Jacob Stanoch
22:03 – Bem – Jacob Stanoch
26:38 – Bem – Conor Stodgell
32:18 – Bem – Reed Johnson
55:50 – Crox – Jack Everett
67:10 – Bem – Lincoln Schmitt
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Blake Melsa – Crox | 8 | X | 8 |
| David Threatt – Crox | X | 3 | 3 |
| Connor Helm – Bem | 2 | 2 | 4 |
