The Crookston Pirate Boys Hockey team’s David Larson made 19 saves for his first high school hockey win in net and Jay Reese scored a hat trick while Crookston beat the Bismarck High School Deacons 5-1 in a game played at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.
FIRST PERIOD
The start of the game looked like the first game after Christmas for both teams, with a lot of missed passes and only six shots in the first half of the period. Crookston started to settle in as the period went along, especially with the duo of Jay Reese and Greyson Ecker. They were clicking and on the same page as Ecker had the puck to the side of the net, spun around, and made a tremendous pass to Reese in front of the net for a 1-0 lead 9:18 into the game. Crookston didn’t get many more shots on goal the rest of the period, but the final shot of the period was a dandy. Once again, Ecker brought the puck up the ice along the near boards and found Reese in front of the net, and he put it in the net for a 2-0 lead with four seconds left in the period.
Crookston’s David Larson made five saves in goal.
SECOND PERIOD
Crookston kept the momentum going at the start of the second period, as they had several quality scoring opportunities. A little over six minutes into the period, Crookston was able to find the back of the net when Riley Benson skated the puck up the ice along the boards and veered toward the net, and rifled a wrist shot into the goal for a short-handed goal and a 3-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, Crookston’s Greyson Ecker blasted a shot from just outside the circle and found the top of the net a few seconds into a power play for a 4-0 lead. Nine seconds later, Crookston’s Jay Reese got the puck off the faceoff, skated in, and found the back of the net for a 5-0 lead. After the goal, Bismarck elected to put their usual starting goalie into the game. Crookston goalie, David Larson continued his stellar play in net as he made save after save. The highlight of the period came when Bismarck had a 2 on 0 and Larson was able to get a piece of the shot and it hit the pipe and deflected away to keep the shutout going.
Crookston wasn’t able to score the rest of the period and took a 5-0 lead into the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
Crookston took a penalty early in the third period, and that proved costly. Bismarck’s Quinton Wolf got a pass at the point and whistled a low shot through traffic, bringing the Demons within a 5-1 deficit. Crookston had several Grade-A scoring chances in the period, but Demon goalie Owen Deeter made some tremendous saves, or had a little help from the pipe. Crookston held on the rest of the way and won the game 5-1.
Crookston’s David Larson earned his first-ever varsity win, and admittedly, he lost his lunch twice before the game because the nerves were so high. But he came up big all game long and made 19 saves in the game for his first win. Larson is no stranger to big games as he is the starting catcher for the Sacred Heart Eagle Baseball team and has be a big part of two State Tournament appearances in his career.
Crookston improves to 7-3-1 on the year and will take on Waseca at Noon on Saturday. KROX will have the game in progress after the Pirate Girls Hockey game vs Albert Lea at 11:00 a.m. Bismarck drops to 1-8 on the year and will play Thief River Falls on Saturday.
J.V. – Bismarck won 7-3
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Bismarck | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Crookston | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
1st Period
9:18 – Crookston – Jay Reese (Greyson Ecker)
16:56 – Crookston – Jay Reese (Greyson Ecker)
2nd Period
6:21 – Crookston – Riley Benson (SH)
8:15 – Crookston – Greyson Ecker (Gavin Aakhus) (PP)
8:24 – Crookston – Jay Reese (Greyson Ecker, Garret Fischer)
3rd Period
1:00 – Bismarck – Quinton Wolf (Elias Johnson, Kason Schwark)
| Goalie | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| David Larson- Crox | 5 | 7 | 7 | 19 |
| Ty Shea – Bism | 6 | 2 | – | 8 |
| Owen Deeter – Bis | – | 5 | 8 | 13 |
