The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Soccer team played two competitive matches, but came up short in a 2-1 loss to Cold Spring-Rocori and a 4-2 loss to Melrose in matches played in Melrose.
CROOKSTON VS ROCORI-
The first half was even for most of the half with a lot of the play in the middle of the field, but Rocori scored 12 minutes into the game for a 1-0 lead, a lead they took into halftime. “Most of the play was in the middle third,” said Pirate Coach Sarah Reese. “Rocori played three forwards and two wide forwards so we had to adjust to that.”
Rocori took advantage of a lucky bounce when the ball went off a Pirate player and into the Crookston goal five minutes into the second half and the tough break for the Pirates. The teams were evenly matched as most of the play was in the middle of the field. Crookston seemed to wear down Rocori as they got late in the game. Pirate goalie, Reese Swanson punted the ball down the field and Cassie Solheim took the ball and scored a goal with three minutes left in the game to bring the Pirates within a 2-1 deficit. The Pirates finished the game strongly but didn’t get another goal and Rocori held on for a 2-1 victory. “We needed to shoot the ball more in the last five minutes,” said Coach Reese. “We had several scoring opportunities and turned up the pressure to end the game on a high note. Overall, we played a great game. We were just a little unlucky.”
Crookston dropped to 1-7 on the year. Cold Spring-Rocori improved to 2-4-1.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rocori | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Scoring
12:00 – Rocori – Clare Pederson
45:00 – Rocori – Crookston own goal
77:00 – Crookston – Cassie Solheim (Reese Swanson)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | Total |
| Reese Swanson – Crox | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Rocori | 0 | 4 | 4 |
CROOKSTON VS MELROSE
The Crookston Pirates scored two first-half goals, but Melrose scored the last two goals of the game for a 4-2 victory in a game played in Melrose.
Melrose scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the first half to take a 2-0 lead. Crookston responded in a big way, with a Sophie Sanders goal from about 18 yards out from the middle of the field to get within a 2-1 deficit. Three minutes later, Crookston added another goal when Keona Arnold took a pass from Kenze Epema and scored a goal from the left side with a shot that found the opposite corner of the goal to tie the match at 2-2 with 13 minutes left in the first half. “We had great passing combo’s and help defense,” said Pirate Coach Sarah Reese. “We played a better technical game and they played a better physical game.” The Melrose physicality paid off late in the first half when they scored their third goal to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.
Melrose scored a goal four minutes into the second half for a 4-2 lead and the teams played even the rest of the way for a 4-2 victory. “Melrose would consistently dump and run with low-pressure defense and booted the ball to their fast attackers to sprint for the ball,” said Coach Reese. “We played all 80 minutes and saw a lot of good things. We had a lot of scoring opportunities and now we need to add quality scoring opportunities where we make the goalkeeper work for the save.”
Crookston drops to 1-8 on the year and will be at Bemidji on Monday. Melrose improves to 3-3 on the season.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| CROOKSTON | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Melrose | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Scoring
10:00 – Melrose – Molly Kraemer
19:00 – Melrose – Courtney Koepke
24:00 – Crookston – Sophie Sanders (Cassie Solheim)
27:00 – Keona Arnold (Kenze Epema)
32:00 – Melrose – Molly Kraemer (Courtney Koepke)
44:00 – Melrose – Courtney Koepke
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | Total |
| Reese Swanson – Crox | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Vanessa Reynaga-Melrose | 3 | 8 | 11 |
