Ty Kennett had a hat trick, and Zak Kennett added two goals as the Red Lake Falls Eagles defeated the Crookston Pirates Boys Hockey team 7-1 in a Section 8A game played at Cardin-Hunt Arena in Red Lake Falls.
1st Period
The Eagles got the night off to a fast start when they won an offensive zone faceoff, and Nathan Huot ripped a shot toward the goal that was redirected on net by Zak Kennett. “It was a good start for us,” said Eagles Coach Trevor Page. “It was a good start for us. We wanted our guys to jump them right away, get on their – D, – and we took advantage of that. Noah Dragseth made the pad save, but the rebound came right back to Kennett, who beat the netminder stick side for a 1-0 lead 43 seconds into the game. The Eagles held an advantage in puck possession and kept racking up the shots on goal but couldn’t extend their lead before Ashton Shockman shot the puck from the top of the right circle that appeared to knuckle on Eagles goaltender Andrew Johnson as it went over his glove with 7:40 to go in the period. It was the first career goal for Shockman. “I thought that was really awesome for Ashton to get his first varsity goal there,” said Pirates Coach Josh Hardy. “He’s gotten more and more time for us and can really fire the puck. He keeps getting better every game.” Neither team would score in a pretty even period of play despite the Eagles going into the locker room with a hefty advantage on the shot chart 21-5.
2nd Period
The Eagles got off to a strong start to open the second period and kept building. The Eagles got another quick goal just 2:29 into the period when Zak Kennett’s wraparound shot was stopped, and Ty Kennett tapped the rebound five-hole to make it 2-1. “We’ve been preaching here the last couple of weeks,” said Page. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve been getting many bounces in games. We’re going to have to get some dirty ones shooting for rebounds, and we got a nice one there.” Evan Girdler makes it 3-1 when he stuffed a rebound home at the right post with 8:00 to play in the period after the puck had shot in the air on a shot at the opposite post by Zak Kennett. Less than two minutes later, Blane Schmitz cleared the puck to the neutral zone where Zak Kennett sprung his younger brother Ty for a breakaway down the left-wing, and Ty lasered a shot into the top left corner for his second goal of the period and a 4-1 lead with 6:17 to go. “We have to come back and help on defense, and we stopped doing that in the second period,” said Hardy. “Dragseth would make a nice save, and they’d get second, third, or fourth chances. We have to come back to help. We just weren’t strong enough in front of our own net. I thought we looked good at times, and to be honest, if we didn’t have the powerplay debacle at the end of the game, it would’ve been a pretty good period for us. We had opportunities. They capitalized on theirs, and we didn’t.” The Pirates would get a 5-on-3 powerplay late in the period, but the Eagles were strong defensively and held the Pirates to two shots during the two-person advantage. The Eagles outshot the Pirates 16-8 in the second.
3rd Period
The Eagles controlled the play throughout the third period, eventually racking up three goals in a span of three minutes, 47 seconds. Zack Kennett would give the Eagles a 5-1 lead when he took a pass from Ty Kennett at center ice, split the defense, and made a move to the right post losing the puck in the process but reaching back to flip it over the left leg for a short-handed goal and his second of the game with 9:19 to play. The Eagles would go on the powerplay a short time later, and Girdler won a faceoff back to the blue line, where Zak Kennett blasted a shot on goal. “Our powerplay can be pretty deadly if we actually get some,” said Page. “I think we only had two powerplays tonight. That’s what we wanted. We threw it on quick, and Blane’s really good in front of the net for us, and he slapped the rebound home.” The rebound fell onto Blane Schmitz’s stick, who slid the puck home for a 6-1 lead with 7:39 to play. Ty Kennett would complete his hat trick a short time later when he picked off a pass in the slot and scored on the backhand with 5:32 to play. The Pirates had plenty of puck possession on the night, but it didn’t translate with too many shots as the Pirates added one pass too many, too often. “End of the second period and into the third period, we passed the puck off, making it someone else’s problem,” said Hardy. “We made bad passes, bad decisions with the puck. I thought we played better at times. I thought some of our young guys looked good. Drake Lord played his first game. I thought he looked good and physical. I also thought Dragseth played great. He kept us in this game. I was frustrated for him.”
The Pirates fall to 1-6 on year and will travel to Warroad on Friday night for a Section 8A game at Gardens Arena that can be heard on KROX, beginning with the RiverView Health pregame show following UMC Women’s Basketball. The Eagles improve to 8-3 on year and will host Wahpeton-Breckenridge on Saturday.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Crookston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Red Lake Falls | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
1st Period
16:17 – RLF – Zak Kennett (Nathan Huot)
7:40 – CROX – Ashton Shockman (Jackson Demarais)
2nd Period
14:31 -RLF – Ty Kennett (Zak Kennett)
8:00 – RLF – Evan Girdler (Zak, Kennett, Ty Kennett)
6:17 – RLF – Ty Kennett (Zak Kennett, Blane Schmitz)
3rd Period
9:19 – RLF – Zak Kennett (Ty Kennett) SH
7:39 – RLF – Blane Schmitz (Zak Kennett, Evan Girdler) PP
5:32 – RLF – Ty Kennett (Unassisted)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Noah Dragseth – Crox | 20 | 13 | 9 | 42 |
| Andrew Johnson – RLF | 4 | 8 | 7 | 19 |
