ELY — The Timberwolves split a weekend series with Mora/Milaca here to improve their record to 2-3 on the season. Three unanswered goals in the first period of Friday’s contest put Ely up top enroute to a 7-2 victory.
Lucas Stalboerger, with assists from Owen Marolt and Sean Merriman, lit the lamp at the 5:10 mark of the first to put Ely on the board. Jayden Zemke, with help from Hunter Halbakken, added goal number two a minute later. Merriman, with assist from Rhett Johnson, made it 3-0 at the 8:20 mark.
In the second, Marolt upped Ely’s margin to 4-0 at the 4:20 mark with an assist from Merriman. The Mustangs finally responded with back-to-back goals midway through the period to get back in the game. But a late goal in the frame by Ely’s Evan Leeson, with another Merriman assist, gave the Wolves a 5-2 edge heading into the final period. That’s when Rhett Johnson slammed the door with back-to-back goals in the first five minutes of the period, the first with a Halbakken assist.
The Wolves outshot Mora/Milaca with 31 shots on goal to 26. Ely goalie Henry Fetterer notched a .923 save percentage as he brushed 24 shots aside. The first two periods were relatively penalty free, although Leeson and Zemke were both tagged on minor violations in the second. Zemke, Rhett Johnson, and Cooper Mayranen spent two minutes apiece in the box in the third period, but penalties played little role in the outcome as all the goals came with both teams at full strength.
It was the Mustangs who jumped to an early lead in Saturday’s rematch as they notched an early goal in the first period and another in the second. Ely’s Halbakken, with an assist from Johnson, narrowed the gap at the 7:03 mark of the second, but the Mustangs matched that just a minute and a half later. Merriman, with assists from Marolt and Leeson, lit the lamp for Ely at the 11-minute mark of the period and Mayranen, with help from Johnson and Zemke, tied the score with another Ely goal just over a minute later.
But the Mustangs would go on to notch three more goals in the third period, while Johnson, with an assist from Mayranen, added a single goal as time ran out with the Mustangs up 6-4.
The Wolves notched 36 shots on goal to the Mustang’s 35. The Wolves were penalized just four times, all minor infractions, while the Mustangs sent just three players to the box.
The Wolves were set for a southern Minnesota road trip over the weekend. They face Faribault on Friday and head to Austin on Saturday. They’ll be off Christmas week before returning home to host the Ely Holiday Classic Dec. 29 and 31.