Pirate Boys Hockey falls to TRF in grueling physical game

The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team scored in the first minute of the game but eventually gave in to the Prowler onslaught at TRF defeated the Pirates by a score of 8-3 at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST PERIOD
The first period could not have started any better for the Pirates, as just 46 seconds in, Garrett Fischer took the puck coast to coast to put the Pirates up 1-0 almost instantaneously. At that point, the Prowlers started to up the intensity, and the period turned into an incredible physical one, resulting in lots of penalties and coincidental minors. Halfway through the period, with TRF on the power play, a big hit on Brandon Colborn forced him off the ice, leaving Crookston in a 5-on-3 situation, and TRF made the most of it with Jaxon Hams finding the twine to tie the game at 1. Less than 2 minutes later, on yet another power play, Hudson Brouse was able to beat Parker Kelly to give the Prowlers their first lead of the night. Both teams kept up the physicality throughout the remainder of the period, but towards the end, TRF began to dominate puck possession. That’s when they had an opportunity in front, one in which Spencer Anderson was able to cash in with just over a minute left in the period to give TRF a 3-1 lead going into the second period.

SECOND PERIOD
The second period continued just as the first had ended, with more skirmishes and coincidental penalties early in the period. The Prowlers began to really assert their dominance in puck possession, keeping it in the Crookston zone for minutes at a time. The Prowlers were able to cash in quickly, as a result, as Masson Collins took a weird bounce off the boards and turned it into a goal to put TRF up 4-1. The Pirates were on the back foot for the next few minutes, and then a Gannon Gonsorowski goal from the blue line deflated them more, putting them down 5-1. However, unlike the other 4 goals that preceded this one, the Pirates had a quick response, as a Gtant Funk shot was masterfully deflected in front of Noah Gonzales by Jay Reese, cutting the lead down to 5-2 with just under 9 minutes in the period. However, that’s where the scoring stopped, and though there were more penalties and skirmishes after whistles, the game stayed 5-2 moving into the third period.

THIRD PERIOD
The third period continued with the same trend of penalties, with both teams getting multiple power plays. The difference in this game was power play numbers; specifically, how tilted they were in favor of the Prowlers. After neither team scored in the first 10 minutes, penalties reared their heads once again, this time in Crookston’s favor, being presented with a 5-on-3. However, the Prowlers were able to get three breakaways shorthanded during the power play. Parker Kelly was able to stop the first two, but Rylan Leake beat him the third time around, putting the Prowlers up 6-2. In the 15th minute of the period, three goals were scored in 41 seconds; power play goals for the Prowlers, coming from Joseph Kelly and Hudson Brouse, and a shorthanded goal for the Pirates from Greyson Ecker. The Prowlers were 4-of-7 on the power play while Crookston was 0-of-6, and that became the deciding factor as TRG wins 8-3.

Crookston falls to 6-3-1 on the season and 3-1-1 in the conference. TRF improves to 3-4, 1-1 in the conference.
JV- TRF wins 8-0
To hear Pirate Head Coach Josh Hardy’s comments, click below.

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Final
Crookston	1	1	1	3
Thief River Falls	3	2	3	8

1st Period
0:46 – CROX – Garrett Fischer (unassisted)
8:03- TRF (PP) – Jaxon Hams (Spencer Anderson, Rylan Leake assist)
9:37 – TRF (PP) – Hudson Brouse (Jaxon Hams assist)
15:49 – TRF – Spencer Anderson (Gannon Gonsorowski assist)

2nd Period
4:39 – TRF – Masson Collins (Jaxon Hams assist)
7:38 – TRF – Gannon Gonsorowski (Rylan Leake, Spencer Anderson assist)
8:12 – CROX – Jay Reese (Grant Funk, Garrett Fischer assist)

3rd Period
10:10 – TRF (SH) – Rylan Leake (unassisted)
15:05 – TRF (PP) – Joseph Kelly (Andrew Rogalla, Jackson Boyer assist)
15:45 – CROX (SH) – Greyson Ecker (unassisted)
15:56 – TRF (PP) – Hudson Brouse (Paul Anderson assist)