The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Soccer team has been playing well and won three in a row, even without many of their players, but the streak came to an end on Friday when they lost to Hibbing 2-0 for the Bluejackets first win of the season. “We played really well but couldn’t get our shots to connect,” said Pirates Head Coach Sarah Reese.
Neither team had much going in the first 15 minutes until the 17th minute when Hibbing got on the board with their first goal of the season to take a 1-0 lead. Most of the half was played in the middle third of the field with neither team possessing the ball and moving up the field. A lot of the Hibbing offense was centralized on the right side of the field, but JoJo Wallace was able to stay strong and prevent another goal in the half. “JoJo’s side was busy all game and she played tenaciously the whole way,” said Coach Reese. Clara Meyer also did a nice job throughout the game balancing her duties on defense and offense. “Clara had a good game at center midfield. She was playing defensively but was able to turn loose balls into playmaking opportunities and shots,” explained Coach Reese. Despite the strong first half play from the Pirates, they still trailed 1-0.
In the second half, the Bluejackets did not waste much time in doubling their lead. Seven minutes into the second half, Hibbing got their second goal of the year to grab a 2-0 lead. The Pirates continued to generate offense, yet they could not find the back of the net. Kailee Magsam was doing her best on the offensive side of the ball, according to Coach Reese. “She was playing center midfield and some forward towards the end of the game and she was playing aggressively, finding the ball and taking good shots.” Five saves from the Hibbing goalkeeper, Aella White, in the second half prevented a Pirate comeback and secured the 2-0 win.
The Pirates fall back to a .500 record at 6-6-1. They will be right back on the pitch on Saturday in Biwabik to take on Mesabi East.
Hibbing, scoring their first two goals of the season improves to 1-8 this year.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hibbing-Chisholm | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Scoring
Hibbing- #5- 17:00
Hibbing- #21- 47:00
| SAVES | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| Tessa Weber- CROX | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Aella White- Hibbing | 2 | 5 | 7 |
