PROCTOR — The Rails ran roughshod over the Timberwolves here on Tuesday, as they put 51 shots on goal to just seven for Ely on the way to an 8-1 rout. The loss dropped Ely’s record to 5-10 as the season heads into its final stretch.
Proctor took the lead just over a minute into the contest and was up 2-0 before Sean Merriman, with assists from Stig Majerus and Hunter Halbakken, scored Ely’s only goal of the night about six minutes into the first period.
But the Rails went on to light the lamp three more times before the period was out. They added two more in the second and a final goal in the third to round out the punishment.
Ely goalie Henry Fetterer took most of the abuse and managed to fend off 32 of the 37 shots he faced. Lewis Powell, who tended net for just under eight minutes, notched 14 saves out of the 17 shots he faced.
Penalties weren’t a factor in the game as the Wolves sat a combined four minutes on two infractions in the first period.
Playing in Baudette last Friday, the Wolves lost a tough one to Lake of the Woods, 4-3. Ely was playing catchup after the Bears took a 2-0 lead by midway through the second period. The Wolves tied the score later in the period. Owen Marolt put Ely on the board at the 8:21 mark with help from Rhett Johnson and Sean Merriman. Johnson added Ely’s second in the final minute and a half of the frame, with assists from Marolt and Merriman.
The Bears added two more in a hard-fought third period to take a 4-2 lead, which proved too much for Ely. Hunter Halbakken, with help from Marolt and Johnson, scored with just over a minute remaining, but it was too little too late. Despite the loss, the Wolves narrowly outshot the Bears 38-34.
The Wolves did put a win on the board last Thursday, when they edged North Shore 3-2 in Ely.
Both teams were slow to score as the match went scoreless until the final few minutes of the second period, when North Shore went up 1-0 on a power play goal. But Ely’s Jayden Zemke put the Wolves up top with back-to back goals midway through the third period, with assists from Johnson, Marolt, and Sawyer Hegman. North Shore knotted the score with five minutes to go and regulation time ran out with the game still tied. In overtime, Johnson notched the win for Ely at the 5:21 mark with an unassisted goal.
The Wolves outshot the Storm 35-23.
Ely will be on the road on Saturday, playing in Spooner, Wis. They’ll be home next Tuesday to take on Greenway in a 6 p.m. start.