CROOKSTON GIRL’S HOCKEY BEATS NORTHFIELD IN A 4-2 THRILLER

The Crookston Pirate Girl’s Hockey team built up a 2-0 lead going into the third period, and with a 3-2 lead late in the game, Crookston’s Emma LaPlante had a center-ice backhand into an empty net with 43 seconds left in the game to give the Pirates a 4-2 win over the Northfield Raiders at the Ralph Engelstad Arena Holiday Classic in Thief River Falls.

FIRST PERIOD
Crookston was keenly aware of Northfield’s Ayla Puppe, a junior committed to play Division I at the University of Minnesota. She had 39 goals and 31 assists last year. But Crookston made sure when she touched the puck that they had people back, and she would typically have at least three people she’d have to beat to get a clear shot on goal. Nobody scored in the first 15 minutes of the period, although LaPlante had a rebound that beat the goalie, but sliding under her, it hit the post and bounced away. Crookston scored with 1:46 to go in the period as Brynley Coleman, and Reese Swanson got the puck on the net. Freshman Taylor Field was in front and jammed it past Macy Mueler, the Northfield goalie, and gave Crookston the lead 1-0, which is what the score was at the end of the first period.” Honestly, I think the first goal is important, “said Field after the game on a post-game interview on KROX RADIO, “Reese Swanson shot the puck, and I got the tip, and it slowly went in.” After the goal, Field did her signature jumping straight up and down a couple of times, “yeah, that’s usually my celly (celebration).” Crookston had two power-play chances in the first but did not score on either one, but they had 18 shots on goal. “Our girls came out fine, they did their job and also knew that #9 (Ayla Puppe) was their top kid, and they did a good job early as you didn’t notice her that much and kept her to the outside,” said Crookston head coach Emily Meyer.

SECOND PERIOD
The Pirates were 2 of 19 in power-play chances this season. The only goal of the period was their third power-play goal of the season when Kaylie Clauson shot a puck wide before Brekken Tull picked it up behind the net  Tull kept moving to the side of the net. It appeared she was looking to pass to a teammate and put it near the goal as the puck deflected off the Northfield goalie’s stick and went into the net to make it 2-0.  It was Tull’s fourth goal in three games. “That’s kind of the thing, too, as a two-goal lead is tough to keep,” said Meyer. “Because at the end of the second period, we played a little more relaxed and lost control in the last two minutes, where we started running around, breaking down. I told the team it would be a defensive game in the third period. We knew that at some point that Ayla was going to start flying, and we had to play a tight defensive third period.”

THIRD PERIOD
It didn’t take long, 13 seconds in fact, for Northfield to get on the scoreboard in the third period when Puppe had the puck in between the circles, a little outside the hash marks, and rifled a shot that went top shelf over the blocker to beat the Pirate goalie.
With the first Northfield goal of the game, you could see the intensity building within the Raider team, and Crookston was getting tired as they played two lines the entire game. Crookston answered four minutes later with a big goal from Cassie Solheim, who scored her third of the year. “I think it was Taylor (Field) behind the net and putting it out for Brekken (Tull),” said Solheim during a post-game interview on KROX Radio. “She put it up to me, and I tapped it toward the net, and I watched it slowly go over the line, but wow, my heart was going, and it gave a two-goal lead again, which was good.”
The two-goal lead lasted for precisely five minutes when the Raiders, Puppe particularly, broke out from center ice, and she developed a two-on-one with Tove Sorenson. Puppe drew the defenders toward her and slipped a perfect pass to Sorenson, who buried it from about seven feet out to draw the Raiders within a 3-2 deficit with about seven and a half minutes left in the game.
Northfield jumped offensively and forced the Pirates into icing several times because they were tired. Northfield had a couple of chances to tie the game, but Freiji stopped the threats. Northfield pulled their goalie with under two minutes to go, and with under a minute to go in the game, LaPlante made her backhanded shot that just made it inside the left post, with 43 seconds to go, the insurance open net goal made it 4-2. “That was a clutch goal Emma scored for us,” Coach Meyer said. “She kept composed, aiming and throwing it out there.”
Crookston ended up outshooting Northfield 40-26 in the game.

Crookston is 5-0 on the season.  Field, the freshman from Sacred Heart said, “Honestly, I couldn’t be in a better place. When they gave me the opportunity to play here, it was a no-brainer, this is where I should be.”
The Pirates will travel to Fergus Falls on Tuesday at 7:15 PM, and the Pirate JV will play at 5:00 PM.  Fergus Falls is 5-1 on the season.
Northfield drops to 3-3 on the season and is at Mankato West on Tuesday.

1st Period
1:46 – Crookston – Taylor Field (3) (Reese Swanson, Brynley Coleman)

2nd Period
6:58 – Crookston – Brekken Tull (4) (Kaylie Clauson) 

3rd Period
16:47 – Northfield – Ayla Puppe (9) (Grace McCoshen)
12:35 – Crookston – Cassie Solheim (3) (Taylor Field, Ashlyn Bailey)
7:35 – Northfield – Tove Sorenson (3) (Ayla Puppe)
0:43 – Crookston – Emma LaPlante (3) (Brynley Coleman, Ashlyn Bailey) (Open Net)

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