MITE BLUE
The Mite Blue only had one game this weekend and it was here in town at the CSC. Even though it was a Sunday night game we came out with a big 15-4 win against Hallock. The boys played another full ice game and are really starting to understand the game of hockey. As a group, they spread out well and played a good team game. Kegan Lessard was our goalie this week and he did a good job stopping some good chances. Scoring this week was Bladen Melsa with 5, Jacob Biermaier 3, Brodie Meyer 2, Joseph Burnette 2, Davin Janek 1, Blair Johnson 1, and Hunter Brownsell with 1. Every game we have different players playing defense and center and the boys are really starting to like certain positions. As coaches, we are starting to understand who fits well where and who plays well with each other. Our two centers this week were Bladen Melsa and Davin Janek and I don’t think they lost more than 5 face-offs all game, nice job boys. Next week we have two games in Bemidji on Saturday and a big game in RLF with the team that beat us in the first game of the year.
Player of the week for the blue is Joseph Burnette. Joseph has started to figure out the wing position well by spreading out and crashing the net for rebounds. Joseph was rewarded with two rebound goals in the slot and capitalizing on his chances. He has also been working hard with these full ice games and figuring out what offsides is and how to get out of the zone if the puck gets out. His defensive play and backchecking is coming along as well. Keep up the good work Joseph!
8U
SQUIRT
10U
Last week was a busy week for the girls playing four games. We started off the week traveling to Thief River Falls on Tuesday. We started the game out strong and built a three-goal lead after the first period. In the second period, we finished with a 5-2 score. The girls came out flat-footed in the third period and let Thief River Falls back in the game. They tied us up with a 5-5 score. We were able to get the go-ahead goal with 16 seconds remaining. The girls won with a score of 6-5. This was a very exciting game to watch. Both teams never quit. Scoring for us were Adley Vigness (3 goals), Kira Daniels (2 goals) and Rilynn Aubol. In our second game of the week, we played East Grand Forks on Friday night. This was the third meeting we have had this year with East Grand Forks. Their team has greatly improved through the season. They came out strong and scored early in the first period. Both teams battled back and forth in the first period. We scored the tying goal at the end of the period. In the second period, the girls were skating hard controlling the play. We finished the period with a 5-2 score. The third period was played evenly. We skated to a 7-4 victory. Scoring for us were Adley Vigness (3 Goals), Sydney McDonald (2 goals), and Kira Daniels and Aubrey Bartrum each with a goal. On Sunday we had two games at home. We started the day playing Grand Forks. The girls skated very hard and played some good competition. This was a back and forth game. We had a 5-3 lead late in the game when Grand Forks pulled the goalie. We added an empty-net goal to give us a 6-3 win. Scoring for us were Adley Vigness (3 goals) with Peyton Demarais, Kira Daniels and Sydney McDonald each scoring one. The last game we played the Fargo Freeze – Gray team. This game was also very competitive. We played some great defense and forechecked hard in this game. We skated to a 6-2 win. Scoring for us were Adley Vigness (4 goals) with Hailey Fritz and Shyuh Burnette each scoring a goal. All four of the games we played this week were very competitive. The girls were up for the challenge and skated well. They played strong defense, forechecked hard and never gave up. Great job this past week girls!
PEEWEE A
Crookston PeeWee A finished off the regular season going 1-2 on the weekend. Friday night they fell to Thief River Falls 4-1, Saturday they got a nice win over Fergus Falls 6-2 and Sunday battled a very good East Grand Forks team for two periods before losing the contest 7-1.
PeeWee A Player of the Season: is the weight room at the Crooskton Sports Center. At the start of the season this group set goals and began working out twice a week. The kids stayed committed all season even showing up during snowstorms and holiday breaks, they always got their two workouts in. We’d like to thank Nathan Lubarski and all the other people involved in getting this weight room set up. We’d also like to especially thank Coach Jeremy Lubinski for running the program and parents Crystal Maruska and Carrie Clauson for volunteering their time with this group.
The PeeWee A’s are hosting the District 16 tournament this weekend in Crookston.
PEEWEE B
We played our final games of the regular season this past weekend. On Saturday morning we faced off against Lake of the Woods at the CSC. The boys worked hard all game but came up short as they lost 7-3. Scoring for Crookston was Isaiah Donarski (3 goals), Marcus Narvaez (2 assists) and Cody Demarais (1 assist). Dylan Thode recorded 23 saves.
In our second game we faced off against Warroad, Crookston came out strong scoring just 1 minute into the game, Warroad proved to be too much to handle as they went on to beat Crookston 8-4. Scoring for Crookston was Conner Hanson (2 goals), Wyatt Marsyla (1 goal), Isaiah Donarski (1 goal), Cody Demarais (1 assist) and Masen Reitmeier (1 assist). Dylan Thode finished the game with 16 saves.
On Sunday we traveled to Bemidji for two games. First, we faced off against Bemidji Blue who has been a top team in the district all season, they play a fast and physical game and our boys could not find any kind of rhythm. We lost the game by a final score of 11-1. Cody Demarais scored the lone Crookston goal, assisted by Marcus Narvaez. Dylan Thode finished with 29 saves.
Our last regular-season game came on Sunday afternoon when we squared off against Bemidji White. The boys dominated the first two periods of play taking a 5-1 lead into the 3rd period. Bemidji mounted a valiant 3rd-period comeback to include back to back shorthanded goals during a 5 on 3 and a 5 on 4 penalty kill scenario, which tied the game 5-5 with just 3 minutes to play. Isaiah Donarski was able to find a loose puck in front of the net to score the game-winner with just 1 second left on the clock. Crookston ended the regular season with a 6-5 win over Bemidji! Scoring for Crookston was Isaiah Donarski (5 goals), Conner Hanson (1 goal), David Dauksavage (2 assists), Marcus Narvaez (1 assist) and Masen Reitmeier (1 assist).
Player of the Week: Cody Demarais and Jace Bruggeman.
Jace has been asked to play defense for the past 5 games, a challenge that he has taken very seriously, he has worked hard and continues to improve every day. We are going to be asking a lot of Jace as we move into the postseason and have full confidence that he will rise to the challenge!
Keep up the hard work boys!
12U
The 12UA team hosted East Grand Forks in the final district game of the season, on Friday, Feb 7th. The girls played very well and dominated much of the play. Scoring for the Pirates in period 1 were Georgia Sanders (Emma LaPlante), Emma LaPlante (Maddie Harbott), and Addie Fee (Emma LaPlante & Georgia Sanders). The Pirates scored 3 in the first, while the Green Wave were scoreless for the period, making it 3-0 after 1. In the 2nd period, Pirate Ashlyn Bailey scored a hat trick of her own! With assists going to Addie Fee & Georgia Sanders. The Green Wave remained scoreless in the 2nd, making it 6-0 heading into the 3rd. There was no scoring in the 3rd period, but a lot of back and forth play. Pirate goaltender, Natalie Longoria, had 12 saves on the game.
The 12UB team hosted Northern Lakes for a double-header on Saturday, Feb 8th. Northern Lakes started off the first game scoring the first two goals of the game. The Pirates answered back, with goals by Adelia Weiland, Ashlyn Bailey (Paige Abrahamson), and Addie Fee. The score was 3-2 after the 1st period. The 2nd period remained scoreless with 12 shots on goal between both teams. Pirate’s Ava Martin (Addie Fee) scored the Pirates lone goal in the 3rd, with Northern Lakes scoring 2 goals. The teams were tied at the end of regulation at 4-4. Sudden-Death overtime was played, and Northern Lakes scored and sealed the win, just 28 seconds into overtime. Pirate goaltender, Julia Buhler, had 17 saves on the game.
The 12UB team hosted Northern Lakes again for the 2nd game of the day later on Saturday, Feb 8th. The teams played a very even game, and there was a lot of back and forth play. Pirate’s Addie Fee (Alexa Bartrum) scored the lone goal in the 1st period. There was no scoring in the 2nd. And each team scored just one goal in the 3rd period, with Pirate’s Ashlyn Bailey scoring for the Pirates. They secured the win, with a 2-1 score, and Pirate goaltender Julia Buhler had 13 saves for the Pirates.
The 12UB team traveled to Grand Forks for their game on Sunday, Feb 9th. The Grand Forks girls started off the game strong in the 1st period, scoring 4 unanswered goals, making the score 0-4 after 1. Pirate’s Alexa Bartrum (Emmi Trostad), Logan Brekken, and Georgia Sanders who had a beautiful breakaway, top-shelf goal, all scored in the 2nd period, and Grand Forks scored 1 lone goal, making the score 3-5 after the 2ndperiod. Pirate’s Hattie Weiland (Logan Brekken) scored just 13 seconds in the 3rd period, putting the Pirates within 1 goal of the Grand Forks girls. Grand Forks answered with 2 goals, and Pirate’s Logan Brekken (Hattie Weiland) scored one more goal in the 3rd making the score 5-7. The Pirates pulled their goalie with 1:45 left in the game, but just couldn’t pull off another goal, making it 5-7 final. Pirate goaltender, Julia Buhler, had 21 saves for the game.
12UB Player of the Week – Ava Martin. After an injury in a game in Grand Rapids in late December Ava is back on the ice and started contributing right away. Ava picked up where she left off and scored a big goal against a very strong Northern Lakes team.
12UA Player of the Week – Kaylie Clauson. Kaylie is a strong and trusted blue liner on her 12UA team. Kaylie’s hockey sense, body positioning and overall understanding of the game make her a top defensive pairing on her team.
Bottom: Cody Demarais, Jace Breggeman, Ava Martin, Kaylie Clauson
