CROOKSTON PIRATES BOYS HOCKEY WIN 7-5 OVER RED LAKE FALLS

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team had seven different players score goals to beat the Red Lake Falls Eagles 7-5 in a back-and-forth Section 8A battle played at the Crookston Sports Center in Crookston. 

FIRST PERIOD
Crookston wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Liam Larson, in his first shift of the game, scored the opening goal for Crookston to give them a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. That would be answered quickly by Red Lake Falls’s Gavin Girdler, who scored 55 seconds later to tie things up at 1. Five minutes later, Kadin Edwards would break the 1-1 tie with an unassisted goal to put the Pirates back on top 2-1. Once again, Girdler would score on the power play three minutes later to tie the game at two a piece. The netminders of Parker Kelly and Ashtin Fredrickson held their own for the remainder of the period to keep it at 2-2 at the first intermission.
Fredrickson faced 12 Crookston shots, stopping 10, while Kelly had four first-period saves for the Pirates. 

SECOND PERIOD
Penalties would be the story of the period in the second, as four penalties were called in the first minute of action. Crookston’s Brandon Colborn fired a shot past Fredrickson to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead with just over 14 minutes remaining. Tate Hamre netted his first goal of the season to provide Crookston with a 4-2 lead, but just nine seconds later, Brock Seeger would score a crucial goal to bring Crookston’s lead down to one. It would remain at 4-3 for the rest of the period, with 11 penalties called between the two sides in the second. Kelly had a good period in goal for Crookston, stopping 13 of 14 Eagles shots. 

THIRD PERIOD
The goalies stood tall in the first part of the third period, coming up with big saves for their teams, but Brock Seeger would score his second of the night for Red Lake Falls, tying the game at 4 with ten and a half minutes to go. Crookston’s Teagan Lubinski scored just a minute later to give Crookston a 5-4 lead. It wouldn’t take long for the Eagles to respond, as Gavin Girdler would complete the hat trick on the power play to tie things at five just a little over two minutes later. With just under three minutes left, Riley Benson fired a shot from the corner that snuck by Fredrickson and found the net to give Crookston a 6-5 lead. Crookston would continue to apply the pressure even with the lead, and with a little over a minute to go, Fredrickson stuck his glove out and denied Crookston a chance to go up two late in the third. Red Lake Falls would pull Fredrickson to give them the extra attacker, but the Pirates took advantage as Grayson Ecker fired the puck into the empty net to give Crookston a 7-5 lead. The Pirate’s defense would hold, get the 7-5 win, and move to 2-0 on the season. 

Crookston improves to 2-0 on the season and will host International Falls on Thursday. Red Lake Falls drops to 1-1 on the year and will host Wadena-Deer Creek on Thursday.

TO LISTEN TO COACH JOSH HARDY’S POST-GAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW:

1st Period
2:13 – Crox – Liam Larson (1) (Blake Melsa)
3:08 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Denny Lactot, Blake Brieland)
8:26 – Crox – Kadin Edwards (2) (Unassisted)
11:30 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Brock Seeger) (PP)

2nd Period
2:48 – Crox – Brandon Colborn (1) (Teagan Lubinski)
7:26 – Crox – Tate Hamre (1) (Ryan Street, Teagan Lubinski)
7:35 – RLF – Brock Seeger (Unassisted)

3rd Period
6:25 – RLF – Brock Seeger (Unassisted)
7:27 – Crox – Teagan Lubinski (1) (Jay Reese)
9:36 – RLF – Gavin Girdler (Blake Audette, Blake Breiland) (PP)
14:13 – Crox – Riley Benson (1) (Grayson Ecker, Jay Reese)
16:09 – Crox – Grayson Ecker (1) (Unassisted)

[yotuwp type=”videos” id=”wsR22UODl3w” ]