CROOKSTON PIRATE GIRLS HOCKEY SHUTS OUT EGF IN SECTION SEMI-FINAL

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Hockey team scored once in each period, and their junior goaltender, Kamebelle Freije, made 15 saves to record her seventh shutout of the season as the Pirates defeated East Grand Forks 3-0 in a Section 8A Tournament semi-final game at the nearly packed Crookston Sports Center.

FIRST PERIOD
Crookston dominated from the opening faceoff in the first period. Although they did not score on three power play opportunities, they controlled the offensive zone for most of the period. The Pirates got on the board when their junior leading scorer, Addie Fee, was working behind the Green Wave net and walked out to the right side of East Grand Forks goalie Britlynn Rasmussen and, from a bad angle, shot. It went off Rasmussen’s shoulder and stuck there until she moved her head, and the puck trickled off into the net to give Crookston a 1-0 lead eight and a half minutes into the game. Fee said, “I was just trying to put it on the net, and it ended up hitting her head and going in.”  The important thing was giving Crookston a lead to start it off. “It was a big goal to get that first one,” said Crookston head coach Emily Meyer (listen to her post-game interview below), “it was a crazy one that Addie put it off their goalie’s shoulder, and it seemed to bounce off her helmet into the goal.”  Crookston would have three power-play goals in the period and be unable to score on any Green Wave penalties! The Pirates outshot East Grand Forks 17-3 in the period but only a 1-0 lead. “We liked the way we played in the first period,” said Coach Meyer, “we controlled things with a lot of time in the offensive zone, got back when we had to play defensively, and then we had Kamebelle back there. We told them to go out and do the same thing in the second period.”

SECOND PERIOD
Crookston would score pretty early in the second period, just over six minutes into, when sophomore Emma LaPlante, behind and to the left of the East Grand Forks goal, muscled her way to the left side of Rasmussen and put a backhander that beat the Green Wave goalie to make it 2-0. “I thought Emma worked hard the whole game,” said Meyer, “she was up and down the ice and was rewarded with that goal.” After the three penalties on East Grand Forks in the first period, you had the feeling that the next penalty would be on Crookston. First, it was coincidental minors and a Crookston tripping, which gave East Grand Forks a five-on-four power play halfway through the period. Although East Grand Forks didn’t score, they had a couple of outstanding chances, which were thwarted by Freije’s glove and the ability to move in the crease to stop the shots and keep the Green Wave off the scoreboard. The Pirate power play continued to struggle as they finished the period on the man advantage, but they were stoned by Rasmussen, who was on her game tonight to keep it 2-0 after two periods of play and keep the Green Wave in striking distance!

THIRD PERIOD
East Grand Forks got another power play chance early in the period, and they moved the puck well and got some shots on goal that Freije either froze or deflected the shots to the corner. Of the 15 shots on goal that East Grand Forks had in the game, half came on their two power plays! Crookston continued to apply pressure in the Green Wave zone, but Rasmussen was up to the task and keeping it a two-goal deficit. As time was winding down, East Grand Forks was waiting for the chance to pull their goalie for the extra attacker, but the Pirate’s play in the offensive zone wouldn’t allow that to happen. East Grand Forks did use their time out late in the game, and afterward, they took a penalty. Crookston would finish all but two seconds the rest of the game on a power play, and they would score the dagger with just over a minute left in the game, and it was a give-and-go between Cassie Solheim and Reese Swanson. Swanson from the far blueline fed the puck to Solheim on the far boards. Swanson went toward the left circle and received the return pass. The senior captain blasted a shot in the 64.3 mph range that Rasmussen had no chance on, and the power play goal, Swanson’s four of the season, put it away for Crookston at 3-0 with a minute left. “Reese has probably the hardest shot we’ve had play for the Pirates, and she is working with the girls on give and goes in practice, and it was nice to see that pay off for her,” said Meyer. Crookston outshot East Grand Forks 54-15 in the game, and it was the third time the Pirates have beaten the Green Wave this season. In the three games, they outshot East Grand Forks 149 to 41 and scored 10 goals!!! “Britlyn played another outstanding game for them and kept them in it. I know it’s tough to lose, but she and the Green Wave should be proud of how they played tonight,” said Crookston coach Emily Meyer.

Crookston is now 17-8-1 on the season, ranked #9 in the state Class A polls, and will play in the Section 8A Championship game on Thursday, February 15, against Warroad, who are 18-8-0 on the season and ranked #5 in the Class A polls. Crookston and Warroad have split during the regular season, winning on their home ice, Crookston 2-0 at home and Warroad 4-3 at home. Freije, when she was congratulated after the game, said, “We have three more periods to go!” That will be on Thursday at 7:00 PM!

CLICK HERE for Coach Emily Meyer’s post-game comments.

1st Period
8:25 – Crookston – Addie Fee (13) (Morgan Nelson, Reese Swanson)

2nd Period
6:01 – Crookston – Emma LaPlante (8)  unassisted

3rd Period
15:58 – Crookston – Reese Swanson (9) (Cassie Solheim)  (PP)

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