The Crookston Pirate Boys Soccer team led early but couldn’t survive an offensive onslaught as they fell to Fergus Falls Hillcrest Academy 4-3. The Comets scored three goals in the second half, and despite a good comeback effort from Crookston, they would ultimately come up short.
FIRST HALF –
The first five minutes of the game saw even possession between both teams. Crookston had the first chance with a corner kick from Jack Everett in the 6th minute, but it went wide. Reggie Winjum had a shot attempt one minute later, but the keeper saved it. In the 10th minute, Carter Trudeau had a nice centering pass to the front of the net, but no Crookston player was able to connect with a shot.
The Pirates continued to pressure the Hillcrest goal until the 19th minute when Brandon Colborn took an excellent pass by Lucas Miller. He dribbled it up to the Hillcrest net and slipped by the goalie’s left side to score, giving Crookston the 1-0 lead.
Hillcrest would respond two minutes later with a corner kick, but Crookston cleared it. In the 24th minute, Abram Ness had a strong shot on goal, but Blake Melsa made a great jumping save to keep Hillcrest off the board. Ness would again have an excellent shot four minutes later, but Melsa made another save.
Both teams had even possession for the next five minutes before Hillcrest started to break through with some good scoring chances. In the 37th minute, the Comets had a corner kick that Melsa was able to save. Crookston seemed poised to go into the half with the lead, but with 2 seconds left, Crookston was unable to clear it, and Ness came in with a long shot attempt and was able to score. The Pirates had to settle for a tie game going into the half.
SECOND HALF –
Hillcrest immediately came out in the second half with the momentum of their last-second first-half goal still fresh in their mind. The Comets put on early pressure, and in the 47th minute, David Sung put a stylish behind-the-back kick into the net to take a 2-1 lead. Hillcrest continued to pressure the Pirate net, but Melsa was up to the task, as he had three saves in the first ten minutes of the half.
Crookston got their first chance of the half when Carter Trudeau put a pass into the goalie box, but the keeper saved it, and Hillcrest immediately began dominating possession again. At 60:51, Sung scored his second goal of the half to give the Comets a 3-1 lead.
The next twelve minutes saw mostly Hillcrest possession, but Crookston kept the Comets out of the goal. Melsa had an excellent clear with an attacker right in front of him to save a goal. Crookston would finally get a chance in the 72nd minute when a Hillcrest player had a handball in the Hillcrest box, giving Caden Boike a penalty kick, which he buried in the left side of the net to cut the deficit to 3-2. That momentum shift would be short-lived, as just 30 seconds later, Drew Fischer received a pass from Zane Holmquist in front of the Crookston net, and he capitalized with a goal, making it 4-2 Hillcrest.
Crookston needed one last spark, and they would find it when Trudeau would pass it to Matthew Contreras on a breakaway, and Contreras would make the shot with just two and a half minutes left in the match, cutting the Pirate deficit to just one. Crookston attempted to play fast in the last two minutes to get one last chance to salvage a draw, and with about 20 seconds left they would get that chance, but the keeper would make the save, punt it away, and the game would end with a 4-3 Hillcrest victory.
Crookston falls to 1-2-1 on the season and plays in Detroit Lakes on Saturday. Hillcrest improves to 3-1-1 on the season.
J.V. – Crookston won 2-0
FOR PIRATES COACH LON BOIKE’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| FF Hillcrest | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Crookston | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Scoring –
19:12 – Crox – Brandon Colborn (Lucas Miller)
39:58 – Hillcrest – Abram Ness
47:09 – Hillcrest – David Sung
60:51 – Hillcrest – David Sung
72:22 – Crox – Caden Boike (Penalty kick)
72:53 – Hillcrest – Drew Fisher (Zane Holmquist)
77:30 – Crox – Matthew Contreras (Carter Trudeau)
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | Final |
| Blake Melsa – Crox | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Soren Floden – FFHC | 4 | 2 | 6 |
