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When two high school hockey teams are evenly matched, it’s difficult for one to record a sweep of the other.
Match them up a third time and it gets even harder.
How about a fourth? That’s the potentially difficult scenario facing Moose Lake Area this weekend, as they go up against the Ely Timberwolves for a fourth time - in the opening round of the Section 7A tournament.
Saturday’s 2 p.m. contest in Moose Lake comes just eight days after the Rebels snuck away with a 3-2 win over the Timberwolves in the third meeting between the teams this winter.
The Rebels are seeded eighth in the tournament and Ely comes in at number nine, and the Wolves have nothing to lose entering the play-in game and might even have a boost of confidence, given the tight battle with Moose Lake just last week.
“I have to say we’re inching closer every time,” said Myers. “The games have been closer and closer and we have been improving as a hockey team. If we are disciplined and have bodies in front of the net, we’ll be just fine.”
Ely ended the regular season 5-17, including three losses against 7A rivals Greenway, Moose Lake and North Shore in the final week.
But all three contests were close, and the Wolves are tightening their defense and have a hot goaltender in senior Ben Leeson.
“We’re starting to play better hockey and anybody we play in that first round we can beat,” said Myers. “We just have to show up, be disciplined and play a physical fast-paced game. And we have to stay out of the penalty box.”
Penalties ravaged the Wolves’ chances in last Saturday’s home finale - a 3-0 loss to North Shore.
Ely was whistled for 10 penalties against the Storm, including nine in the final two periods and one five-minute major.
Wolves skaters were in the penalty box much of the time, including three at once during a second-period stretch, and that hindered any opportunity to rally.
Goals by Kade Norman and Ethan Meeks gave the Storm a 2-0 lead after one period, and the cushion held up as winning goalie Dax Krech turned away 24 Ely shots.
Jacob Carpenter scored on the power play early in the second period, and the Wolves never mounted a serious challenge as the game broke down into a penalty- fest, with 16 infractions called in all.
Leeson recorded 41 saves for the Wolves.
The night before, Joe Olson scored with 39 seconds left to break a two-all deadlock and gave Moose Lake its third regular season win over the Wolves.
“We were tired and we had someone in the box for coincidental at the end,” said Myers. “We were down to four forwards.”
Junior Rhett Johnson got the Wolves on the board three minutes into the contest with an assist from senior Jace Huntbatch, but the Rebels got the equalizer before the end of the period.
In the second, Johnson scored again, this time with an assist from sophomore Owen Marolt, but Ely’s 2-1 edge lasted only two minutes. The Rebels’ Brayden Strand scored, assisted by Olson, and the game was tied entering the final frame.
Ely killed off a penalty midway through the period but the Rebels broke through in the final minute, spoiling the Wolves’ hopes to take the game into overtime.
The Rebels enjoyed a shot advantage and Leeson made 33 saves for the Wolves. Winning goalie Eli Gilbertson had 24 saves.
The winner of Saturday’s Moose Lake and Ely clash moves into the 7A quarterfinals on Tuesday, with a meeting against top-seeded Cloquet-Esko-Carlton. Perennial power Hermantown is seeded second in the section, with Hibbing and Proctor rounding out the top-four.
