by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor

Thief River Falls skated to a 3-1 girls hockey win over Crookston Tuesday night at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Thief River Falls.
 
“The outcome could have been better, but that’s the type of competition we will se in section 8,” said Crookston Head Coach Reed Olson. “A lot of girls were playing their first varsity game. We have a lot to work on in practice.”

Thief River Falls controlled the puck for most of the game and outshot the Pirates 34-13.
  
“We need to do a better job of breaking out,” Olson said. “It was in our zone quite often. Get it deep and work from there. We are pretty young and want to get those basics down before we try to evolve off that.”

The Prowlers broke a scoreless tie 4:20 into the opening frame, with a goal by Ava Seeger and assists from Brynn Hennen and Kiptyn Anderson.
 
The Prowlers led 1-0 for the remainder of the first period. The Pirates tied the game a little over three minutes into the second period. Adley Vigness scored an unassisted goal at the 3:09 mark to make it 1-1.
 
“Every time she would skate the puck up the ice, we thought she had a chance to score,” Olson said. Making Vigness’ opening night performance more impressive is the fact that she only had a week of practice under her belt after wrapping up her volleyball season for Sacred Heart the previous week.
 
The Prowlers regained the lead with a goal by Lila Dalager and assist by Grace Knutson with 4:39 remaining in the second period.
 
The Prowlers added an insurance goal with 4:34 remaining, with Charleigh Hamre finding the net and Miley Cota earning the assist.
   
Junior goaltender Madilyn Abrams kept the Pirates in the game with 31 saves.
 
“She played well,” Olson said. “That was her first varsity start as well. She played well in practice and that translated into the game. The first two goals, she was screened by a couple of our players. If you take away those, it’s 1-1.”

Scoring
1 2 3 T
Crookston 0 1 0 1
Thief River Falls 1 1 1 3
First period – TRF, Ava Seeger (Brynn Hennen, Kiptyn Anderson) 4:20.
Second period – Crookston, Adley Vigness (unassisted) 3:09; TRF, Lila Dalager (Grace Knutson) 12:21.
Third period – TRF, Charleigh Hamre (Miley Cota) 12:26.
Shots – Crookston 3-7-3 – 13; TRF 13-6-15 – 34.
Power plays – Crookston 0-for-3; TRF 0-for-3.
Penalties – Crookston 3 (6 minutes); TRF 4 (8 minutes)
Goalie saves – Crookston, Madilyn Abrams 31; TRF, McKenna Carr 12.