Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer Shut Out By Fergus Falls

The Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer team was missing two starters and one top reserve but still played a great game, but came up short in a 1-0 loss to the Fergu Falls Otter in a Section 8A matchup at the Crookston High School soccer field.

FIRST HALF –
Crookston and Fergus Falls were very evenly matched and that was evident early into the game. Crookston was going into the wind in the half, but still managed to play even with Fergus Falls. Both teams controlled play for a few minutes and the other team would counter in an entertaining first half of play. Crookston had a couple of high quality chances but didn’ t find the net, while Fergus Falls had a couple of quality scoring chances and Pirate goalie Reggie Winjum came up with some solid saves. Both teams had several shots that sailed over the net or wide of the net and either team scored in the first half and it was scoreless going into halftime. “We had a few looks and couldn’t put anything on goal and when we did get shots on goal it was right at their goalie,” said Pirate Coach Lon Boike. ‘”Reggie made some nice saves too. We told the guys to keep pushing the ball down the field and keep working hard in the second half.”

SECOND HALF –
Fergus Falls controlled play for most of the first 10 minutes of the half before Crookston’s Jack Everett put a shot on goal 11 minutes into the half, but the Otter goalie made the save. Crookston started to put some pressure on the Otter defense for the next 10 minutes and had a few shots, but couldn’t find the net. A little over halfway through the half, Crookston’s Everett had another shot on goal from about 30 yards out and it went off the upper right-hand corner of the goal and defelected out of bounds. “We just couldn’t find the goal today,” said Coach Boike. “It was a nice shot and unfortunately we just missed.” The already short-handed Crookston had their leading scorer Brandon Colborn check out because of an injury and one of their top defenders, Peter Wiersma was dinged up and had to check out. Just a few minutes later, Crookston let a Fergus Falls player sneek behind the defense and the ball was kicked towards the net and the Otters Aiden Schake kicked the ball over the Pirate goalie on a perfectly placed kick to score the first goal of the game with over 15 minutes remaining. “We had a little miscommunication on that play,” said Coach Boike. “He made a nice play and just got the kick off and chipped it in.”
Crookston continued to battle and with 10 minutes left, they had a shot on goal, but the Otter goalie made the save. Both teams picked up the intensity in the final minutes of the game, but Crookston wasn’t able to get a quality shot on goal and Fergus Falls held on for a 1-0 victory. “We seemed a little out of sync today because we were missing some guys,” said Coach Boike. “Our kids played hard and it was a great game with two good teams getting after it today.”

Crookston drops to 2-1 on the year and will travel to Pelican Rapids on Tuesday.
J.V. – Crookston won 2-1