EGF Ends Pirate Boys Soccer Season With A 4-3 Victory

The Crookston Pirates Boy’s Soccer team played well, but came up short in a 4-3 loss to the East Grand Forks Green Wave in the first round of the Section 8A Boys Soccer tournament, played at Moorhead High School.

East Grand Forks didn’t waste any time and scored the first goal five minutes into the game when Mohammed Barkadleh came down the right side of the field and beat the Pirate defense and kicked the ball in the net from 10 yards out for a 1-0 lead. Crookston answered a little over 24 minutes later when Ben Andringa scored to even the score at 1-1. Mason LaPlante had a corner kick and Sam Overgaard stopped the ball and it was knocked away and it bounced to Andringa who kicked the ball from 15 yards out and it deflected off a Green Wave player into the net to even the score. “That was a big goal,” said Pirate Coach Don Cox. “It was a nice goal and the reason why you stick with it and get a kick on goal.”  A little over five minutes later there was a scrum in front of the net and the ball popped loose and East Grand Forks’ Mohammed Barkadleh scored another goal for a 2-1 lead. A little less than two minutes later East Grand Forks had a nice pass down the field and Khalid Omar caught up with a long pass from Khalid Mohamud and sped past the Pirate defense and went in alone on a one-on-one with the goalie and kicked it in for a goal and a 3-1 lead.  “We gave up two goals that we shouldn’t have in the first half,” said Coach Cox.  “We fought hard and had a good first half, but our offensive struggles continued.  We just can’t find the back of the net.”
In the second half, Crookston scored 13 minutes into the second half on another goal by Andringa. “That was another big goal for us,” said Coach Cox. “We had it back within a goal and it was a good start.”  The momentum Crookston had built was taken away less than a minute later when East Grand Forks scored a goal to take a 4-2 lead.  Crookston added another goal halfway through the second half when Jacob Brunelle scored after a pass from Ben Brantner to bring the Pirates within a 4-3 deficit. “That is exactly what we needed,” said Coach Cox. “Jacob got a foot on it and kicked it in the net.”  Crookston had a couple opportunities to score, but they weren’t able to get the ball in the net the rest of the game. “We have struggled all season long to score,” said Coach Cox.  Logan Wardner came up with some big saves in the final 10 minutes to keep the Pirates within a goal, but East Grand Forks held on for a 4-3 victory. “The boys played well and they played hard tonight,” said Coach Cox. “We struggled with consistency all season long and that kind of hurt us tonight because we were up and down and while we were down, they scored two goals in the first half.”
Crookston’s season comes to an end at 4-11-2.  East Grand Forks improves to 9-7-1 on the year and will play in the Section 8A quarterfinals on Saturday.

Mason LaPlante kicks the ball away from the East Grand Forks player

Killian Kuchan kicks the ball up the field

Scoring
5:00 – EGF – Mohammed Barkadleh (AbdiMalik Abdi)
24:25 – Crox – Ben Andringa (Sam Overgaard)
29:56 – EGF – Mohammed Barkadleh (Khalid Omar)
31:44 – EGF – Khalid Omar (Khalid Mohamud)
42:51 – Crox – Ben Andringa (Mason LaPlante)
43:46 – EGF – AbdiMalik Abdi
56:30 – Crox – Jacob Brunelle (Ben Brantner)