Ben Andringa had a third period goal waved off that would’ve cut the Tartan Titans lead to 3-2, when the officials ruled the net was off its moorings keeping the score 3-1 and sapping the Pirates momentum before goals from Landen Schwantes with 9:09 to play and Brandon Blank 10 seconds later put an exclamation point on a Titan victory.
After a scoreless first period, Tartan scored three times in the second period. Brock Bertelson scored with 10:55 to go on assists from Luke Solheid and Jacob Betz. The after a charging penalty on Mason LaPlante, Tyler Bushard fed a pass to Blank on the power play that he buried with 6:16 to go to make it 2-0. It was the fifth power play goal allowed by the Pirates on 19 penalty kills this season. Betz would get in on the scoring when he beat Noah Dragseth for the third goal of the period with 38.1 seconds on the clock.
In the third period, Andringa took a pass at the top of the painted area, from Eric Delorme, and beat the Titans’ Kyle Kulevich for the lone Pirate goal of the game 23 seconds into the period. Andringa looked to score again just 56 seconds later on a nearly identical play which would’ve cut the lead to one with 15:41 to play, but it was waived off. The Pirates had plenty of opportunities to regain the momentum after Andringa’s goal was waived off. Penalties to the Titans just 45 seconds apart gave the Pirates an extended 5-on-3 power play and later a five-minute major for boardin on Tartan gave the Pirates another long, unfulfilled opportunity.
“When we get these power play opportunities we’ve got to get the puck to net and score,” said coach Josh Hardy. “Sometimes we play around with it a little too much, overthink it, turn it over and have to go 200 with it again.”
The tough early stretch should benefit the Pirates later in the season said Hardy, “this stretch really galvanizes our team as we get into January and February.”
Tartan improves to 4-1-0, Crookston falls to 0-4-1. The Pirates will travel to East Grand Forks on Tuesday, “It’s always tough to win in East Grand Forks, but this group has won there before,” said Hardy. “Our effort level was good today and if we can tighten up on Tuesday we should be in the game.”
The faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. against the Green Wave, with the RiverView Pre-game Show at 7:00 p.m.
Joey Doda gets ready to take a shot and Eric Delorme looks for a centering pass in the second period
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| Tartan | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| CROOKSTON | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Ben Andringa looks to make a move on a Tartan player in the second period
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
10:55 – Tartan – Brock Bertelsen (Luke Solheid, Jacob Betz) (PP)
6:16 – Tartan – Brandon Blank (Tyler Bushard )
0:39 – Tartan – Jacob Betz (Brock Bertelsen Braden Fairbanks)
3rd Period
16:37 – Crookston – Ben Andringa (Eric Delorme, Sam Overgaard)
9:09 – Tartan – Landen Schwantes (Derek Olssen)
8:59 – Tartan – Brandon Blank (Bo Strecker)
| Saves | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Kyle Kulevich – Tartan | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| Noah Dragseth – Crookston | 9 | 9 | 7 | 25 |
