The Crookston Pirate Girls Soccer Team battled a solid St. John’s Prep in a 4-0 loss in a Section 8A game at the Crookston High School football field.

FIRST HALF –
St. John’s Prep (SJP) came out strong and controlled the ball from the start of the game. Five minutes into the game, an SJP player was injured in a collision and had to leave the game. The injured player later returned to the game. Ten minutes into the game, SJP had its first good shot from about 15 yards out and the ball sailed past the net, leaving the game scoreless. SJP had another shot on goal about 15 minutes into the game and another 20 minutes into the game, but the shot sailed over the net. Less than a minute later, SJP had a shot on goal and the Crookston goalie was able to save the first shot, but the shot deflected in front of the net as Lauren Lenzmeier kicked the loose ball into the net for a 1-0 lead.
St. John’s Prep continued to control the ball in the second half and was awarded a penalty with four minutes left in the half. SJP’s Claudia Ruzanic kicked the ball to the left side of the net and it bounced off the fingertips of a diving Crookston goalie, leading to a 2-0 lead. SJP continued to dominate in the final four minutes and had a few shots on goal but could not score and SJP went into halftime with a 2-0 lead. “We came out well and started the game well. After a few minutes we sat back and weren’t as aggressive,” coach Sarah Reese said. “We weren’t winning the 50/50 balls and we were constantly running and getting tired.”

SECOND HALF –
Crookston started the first few minutes of the second half strong, putting SJP under pressure, but they couldn’t get a good shot on goal. SJP came back when captain Natalie Kayser weaved through Crookston defenders to make it 3-0 four minutes into the half. A minute later, SJP had another chance to score and the ball was free in front of the net before Miryah Epema kicked the ball out of play. Crookston goalkeeper Naomi Johnson took over for the Pirates in the second half and was kept busy as she made two more saves in the space of a minute. 10 minutes into the half, SJP had another good chance to score when Johnson saved a sliding ball.
Crookston began to put pressure on SJP for about five minutes before SJP began to control the ball. With 16 minutes left, Crookston had a golden opportunity to score his first goal of the season when the ball rolled in front of the net, but the ball deflected behind the Pirates’ Brooklyn Waldal and they remained scoreless.
SJP played the ball in front of Crookston’s goal and Caleigh Robak found Lauren Lenzmeier in front of the goal, who fired it into the net for a 4-0 lead late in the game.
SJP maintained control for the rest of the game and won 4-0. “We’ve done a better job on defense with our positioning and seen guys with more patience,” coach Reese said. “We’re still building our skills and confidence and have a lot of new (varsity) players who are learning as they go and doing great, but we’re only nine days in and they’re working hard and have a lot of potential.”

Crookston falls to 0-2 this year and has until next Friday off when they play. St. John’s Prep improves to 1-0 this year.

Rating –
7:50 p.m. – SJP – Lauren Lenzmeier (Andrea Gomez)
35:56 – SJP – Claudia Ruzanic (PK)
44:55 – SJP – Natalie Kayser (Lauren Lenzmeier)
68:40 – SJP – Claudia Ruzanic