The Crookston Pirates Girl’s Soccer team hosted the Fergus Falls Hillcrest Academy Comets in a rematch of a thrilling 1-0 Pirates victory earlier this season, and the Pirates replicated their success in a 3-0 win over the Comets on a very windy day at the Crookston High School soccer fields. “It was a great win today and a solid group effort,” said the Pirates Head Coach Sarah Reese.
FIRST HALF
Crookston elected to start the game with the wind at their backs, a decision that ended up being a good one. The Pirates used that wind to their advantage the entire 40 minutes, constantly possessing the ball in their attacking third of the field. Crookston missed out on a few chances in the first five minutes but could finally capitalize seven minutes into the half. Cassie Solheim dribbled up the middle of the field, and when she got into the left half of the box, turned and ripped a shot off the Comet goalie’s hands and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. “Cassie is a playmaker and a true team player. She has a knack at finding the sweet spot,” said Coach Reese. “She is very composed.” The Pirates continued with the offensive pressure and got another goal nine minutes later. This time Solheim took a shot from the right side of the box and the shot was punched away but it was right to Amelia Overgaard who put the ball into the open net to give Crookston a 2-0 lead. “That is what we call the garbage ball, and Amelia was at the right place at the right time, so that was great,” added Coach Reese.
Late in the half, after a pass from Solheim, Overgaard found herself with the ball in the middle of the box, and Amelia found the back of the net for her second goal to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead with 17 seconds left in the half. “Amelia and Katelyn Christensen played fantastic collectively today at the midfield,” explained Coach Reese. “They played great on offense and defense and transitioning from those spots.” The Pirate defense allowed just one shot in the first half.
SECOND HALF
The Pirates played a much more methodical second half with the wind at their face. They switched goalie to move Solheim from the striker spot back to the goal, where she has been playing more lately because of injuries. “With the big wind factor and some of their girls having big legs, sometimes some of those balls in the air become a bit more challenging in terms of technique, and Cassie has a little more experience, so we thought that would help” explained Coach Reese. It worked well for the Pirates, with Solheim being aggressive on most of the Comet’s offensive chances. The Comets attempted to use the wind to their advantage, but Solheim came off her line well to snag any balls sent into the box from the Hillcrest midfielders. The only shot on goal in the half from the Comets came from around 30 yards out, and the Pirates defense yielded just three total shots in the second half. “To be successful today, we had to shoot the ball, transition well, and play team defense, and we did all of those things,” said Coach Reese. Crookston had a few looks in the final 40 minutes but could not finish them off. Crookston was content playing a slower brand of soccer with the tough wind as they held on to complete their 3-0 victory.
Crookston improves to 4-5-1 this year and will travel to Pelican Rapids on Monday.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Hillcrest | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Crookston | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Scoring
6:51 – CROX – Cassie Solheim
15:46 – CROX – Amelia Overgaard
39:43 – CROX – Amelia Overgaard (Cassie Solheim)
| SAVES | 1st | 2nd | Final |
| Tessa Weber- Crox | 0 | – | 0 |
| Cassie Solheim- Crox | – | 1 | 1 |
| Hannah Radzwill- FFHA | 3 | – | 3 |
| Kaley Quam- FFHA | 1 | 0 | 1 |
