The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team started out slow and trailed after the first period, but the goals came in bunches in the final two periods and the Pirates were able to take down the Grafton/Park River Spoilers by a score of 5-2 at the Crookston Sports Center.
FIRST PERIOD
At the start of the period, the question of what version of the Crookston Pirates we would get became tilted towards the version against Fergus Falls, as the Pirates came out a little flat. Grafton, however, was unable to take advantage and put very few pucks on Brady Chandler, who got the start in net for the Pirates. However, a deflection in front of Chandler led to a scramble in front, and Marcus Moe was able to put the puck in the net to give Grafton the lead. Crookston began to pepper the net, testing Grafton netminder Kaisin Twamley with 13 shots on goal, but were just unable to make it through him. Both Crookston and Grafton went 0-for-1 on the power play, and the period ended at 1-0.
SECOND PERIOD
Crookston needed a shot in the arm if they were going to get anywhere in the game. At the start of the period, the offense began to pick up considerably, getting more attempts on Twamley. Halfway through the period, Teagan Lubinski broke his stick, and went back to the bench for a new one. In a split second, he grabbed the stick and slapped the puck down to Connor Hanson, who made a slick move and put the puck in the net to tie the game at 1. That definitely kicked the offense into another gear, and 4 minutes later, Teagan Lubinski fired a puck from the blue line, and it deflected off a couple Grafton players and behind Twamley, giving Crookston their first lead of the night at 2-1. The discipline of the Crookston defense was stout throughout the game, allowing Chandler to make 5 saves or less in every period. Meanwhile, the discipline for the Spoilers fell flat, and more penalties were being committed. Crookston took a 2-1 lead into the end of the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
Crookston was able to keep the momentum into the start of the third period. They were able to kill an early penalty, and as soon as the game turned back to 5-on-5, Garrett Fischer took it coast to coast and scored on a breakaway to put the Pirates up 3-1. The aggressiveness did not stop, and the penalties for the Spoilers kept adding up. The Pirates found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play, and Tate Hamre succeeded on a flawless deflection attempt to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead. The Spoilers were able to respond right back, as Noah Troftgruben came flying out of the penalty box while the Pirates were attempting to change, and he was able to beat Chandler to cut the lead down to 2. There wasn’t much more the Spoilers were able to do on both sides of the puck, however, and perfect passing from the second line of Ryan Street and Liam Larson set up Brandon Colburn for a beautiful goal to seal the deal for the Pirates, allowing them to take home the win by a score of 5-2.
Crookston improves to 6-2-1 on the year and will travel to Thief River Falls for a big section matchup on Thursday night. Grafton falls to 1-6 on the season.
JV- Crookston won 4-2
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Grafton/PR | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Crookston | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
1st Period
7:28 – G/PR – Marcus Moe (David Jelinek)
2nd Period
8:29 – CROX – Connor Hanson (Teagan Lubinski)
12:02 – CROX – Teagan Lubinski (Jay Reese)
3rd Period
2:02 – CROX – Garrett Fischer (unassisted)
7:01 – CROX – Tate Hamre (Garrett Fischer, Greyson Ecker) (PP)
8:43 – G/PR – Noah Troftgruden (David Jelinek, James Larson)
12:19 – CROX – Brandon Colborn (Ryan Street, Liam Larson)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Brady Chandler- Crox | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
| Kaisin Twambley- G/PR | 13 | 10 | 8 | 31 |
