The Pirates were out for revenge Thursday night against East Grand Forks who upset them in the first meeting of the season on Dec. 1 in East Grand Forks with a 2-1 overtime win.
This time, Crookston wasn't going to let it come down to overtime. The Pirates scored three goals in a span of 1:19 in the second period to pull away 4-0 after a goal in the first period. East Grand Forks added a power play goal in the third but it was too little too late.
Crookston, who is ranked No. 4, improved to 16-8 on the season and 7-3 in the section. East Grand Forks, who is ranked No. 8, falls to 13-9-1 overall and 6-3 in Section 8A play.
"We controlled the game most of the time," said Pirate head coach Tim Persson. "When they had penalties we contained their scoring chances. They maybe had three or four scoring chances all game.
"I thought we could've been up 8-0 after the second period. Last time we played them they outplayed us in the first period. We really outplayed them this time. That has a lot to do with way our lines are set up."
Persson noted that Emily Meyer, who has recorded three points in each of her last two games and is on the first line with Jessica Broekemeier and Shannon Kaiser, is playing very good hockey right now.
"Emily Meyer is feeling more comfortable and that's what we need from her," he said. "Everytime that line was on the ice they created something."
Persson went on to talk about the solid play he got from his second line of Caitlin Wahouske, Kailey Biermaier and Brianna Breiland.
"Our second line dominated out there all game too. Whatever line [East Grand Forks] sent out there against them. Brianna was just flying."
Crookston's defense played solid too by keep the Green Wave forwards to the outside.
"Our defense kept #2 to the outside most of the time. She got inside once and put puck in Rachel's belly," Persson said.
The Pirate victory seals the second seed in the Section 8A Playoffs, which means they will host a first round game on Thursday, Feb. 11
The Pirates got out to a nice start and created good scoring chances early. They were then forced to kill off a Green Wave power play with ten minutes left.
Then, with about six minutes remaining in the first period, Kaiser had the best chance yet when she ripped a one-timer from close range in the slot but Green Wave goaltender Tamara Twite came up with a big save.
Kaiser would break through about 30 seconds later when she took a pass from Meyer to the left of Twite and punched it through while falling to her knees.
The Pirates came out on fire in the second period and overwhelmed East Grand Forks.
Kaiser got her 30th goal of the season at the 3:10 mark when Meyer carried the puck in the Green Wave zone on a rush and put the puck on net. Kaiser followed up nicely and pushed in the loose puck that was sitting behind Twite.
Just 32 seconds after Kaiser's goal, Sophie Lien made it 3-0 with her first goal of the season. After a pass from Brianna Breiland, Lien placed a nice shot from a sharp angle through a small opening.
Meyer made it 4-0 just 47 seconds later with her 11th goal of the season. Broekemeier and Kaiser assisting on the play.
The rest of the second period was filled with penalties for both teams with each team failing to score on two-man advantages of considerable time on each.
In the third, the Green Wave broke through with 3:50 remaining in the game at the tail end of a power play when Leah Jensen got the puck all alone in the Crookston zone and beat goaltender Rachel Biermaier with an unassisted goal.
Biermaier finished the game with 23 saves, while Twite turned away 25.
"Rachel [Biermaier] stopped the pucks she had to," Persson said. "The quality chances they had she stopped them. She saw enough shots to keep her in the game. You need to feel that puck once in a while."
The Pirates finished 0-of-4 on the power play, while the Green Wave were 1-of-6.
The third period was rough for the Pirates as they lost Kailey Biermaier, Mandie Persson and Leah Dufault to injuries.
"We were shuffling things around at the end. We went down hill because of a lack of players," said Persson.
Kaiser finished the night with two goals and an assist, while Meyer tallied a goal and two assists. Broekemeier had two assists.
Crookston will close out the regular season Tuesday, Feb. 9 when it hosts Fargo South at 7:30 p.m.
