CROOKSTON PIRATES BOY’S HOCKEY WINS LIONS CUP OVER ST. PAUL JOHNSON 6-3

Six different Pirates scored as the Crookston Boys Hockey team won the Lions Cup over St. Paul Johnson 6-3 at the Crookston Sports Center. 

FIRST PERIOD
The Crookston Pirates started the game quickly, getting a few quick shots on net to test St. Paul Johnson’s netminder, Tyler Mishica. On their fourth shot of the game, Ryan Street fired a shot that snuck by Mishica and trickled across the goal line to put the Pirates up 1-0. Then, just 39 seconds later, Koda Donarski, from just across the red line, flung the puck on goal and scored to put the Pirates up 2-0. A few minutes later, Parker Kelly got some help from the post as the Governors shot deflected off of Kelly then hit the post and stayed out to keep the game at 2-0. Shortly after that, Blake Melsa used a shimmy shake to move the defender out of the shooting lane and fired a wrist shot that found the back of the net to put the Pirates up 3-0.
The Pirates continued their offensive pressure and forced a penalty on St. Paul Johnson, but Crookston couldn’t convert on the powerplay. Crookston’s defense stepped up once again, forcing the Governors to only have four shots on goal during the first period. The offense got 16 shots on goal, with three of them finding the back of the net as the Pirates held their 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. 

SECOND PERIOD
Crookston wasted no time getting their fourth goal of the evening. Jay Reese, off of a turnover, fired a quick shot from a bad angle to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. Crookston continued to dominate offensive zone time as they forced another penalty on St. Paul Johnson. The Pirates got their powerplay set up 40 seconds into the man advantage, and Teagan Lubinkski fired a pass down low to Lucas Miller, who dished a perfect pass to Masen Reitmeier, who pounded it into the net for a 5-0 lead. St. Paul Johnson would battle back as Elijah Towle wristed a shot from just inside the blue line that found the back of the net, and the Governors would cut the Pirates lead down to 5-1. Crookston would get a cross-check called on them, as that would be their first penalty of the game. St. Paul Johnson took advantage of the power play as Matthew Corniea fired a shot past Kelly just 21 seconds into the power play to make it quickly a 5-2 game.
The hitting and intensity picked up as Crookston had a centering pass that couldn’t find a Pirate stick, and Corniea took the puck, raced in on a breakaway, and fired the puck into the net to make it 5-3. Crookston used their timeout after their lead was trimmed to two. After the timeout, both teams would continue to hit each other at a high rate while both team’s defenses halted either team from putting a lot of shots on net. Crookston would head into the 2nd intermission with a 5-3 lead. 

THIRD PERIOD
The physicality continued in the third as both teams continued to hit at a rapid pace. Crookston had an early interference penalty called on them, but the Pirates would kill off the penalty. Shortly after the penalty kill, the Governors fired a long shot, but Kelly was alert and made the stop. Brandon Colborn threw a long pass into the offensive zone for the Pirates, which Riley Benson was able to receive, move around a sliding defender, and put a perfect pass on the tape of Garrett Fischer, who buried it into the net to give Crookston a 6-3 lead.
A few minutes later, Crookston would get called for another penalty to set up another St. Paul Johnson power play. Still, the Governors couldn’t convert as the penalty kill for the Pirates killed off the two-minute penalty. St. Paul Johnson would get another opportunity on the power play as the Pirates were called for their third interference of the night, but once again, the penalty kill stood tall and killed off the penalty in the final minutes of the third period. Crookston would hold off a few Governors opportunities late to keep their three-goal lead and take the Lions Cup, 6-3.

Crookston improves to 4-0 on the season and will travel to Detroit Lakes on Friday, December 15.  St. Paul Johnson drops to 0-5.

Crookston’s next game will be at Detroit Lakes on Friday, Dec. 15. 

TO LISTEN TO CARTER TRUDEAU’S POST-GAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW:

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

1st Period
3:17 – Crox – Ryan Street (2) (Ty Larson)
3:56 – Crox – Koda Donarski (1) (Unassisted)
10:35 – Crox – Blake Melsa (2) (Lucas Miller)

2nd Period
1:18 – Crox – Jay Reese (2) (Ty Larson, Kadin Edwards)
4:05 – Crox – Mason Reitmeier (1) (Teagan Lubinski, Lucas Miller) (PP)
6:42 – SPJ – Elijah Towle (Isaiah Henderson)
7:51 – SPJ – Matthew Cornia (Isaiah Henderson, Alexander Themmes) (PP)
10:26 – SPJ – Matthew Cornia (Unassisted)

3rd Period
4:36 – Crox – Garrett Fischer (3) (Riley Benson, Brandon Colborn)

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