ELY—The once high-flying Wolves have hit a tough stretch on the ice in recent days, suffering three straight losses in a week they entered at 12-5.
Playing at home on Tuesday, the Wolves fell 9-1 to Proctor. As became a pattern this week, Ely senior Drew Marolt drew first blood, with a power play goal just shy of five minutes into the first period. Ely’s lead quickly evaporated, however, as the Rails lit the light 18 seconds later and went on to add two more before the period ended. They scored five more, all unanswered, in the second period and finished the third with a late goal to pad their margin.
Sophomore Lewey Powell worked the net for the Wolves, allowing nine goals on 57 shots for a .842 save percentage. Ely managed just 11 shots on goal in the contest.
On Saturday, the Wolves looked eager to avenge their Friday night loss to Lake of the Woods as they came out gunning for net. Senior forward Drew Marolt made it look easy as he lit the light at the 1:52 mark on an assist from his younger brother Owen Marolt. He did it again 32 seconds later with an assist from junior defenseman Alex Merriman to put the Wolves on top 2-0.
But, again, that proved to be the extent of Ely’s firepower for the afternoon as they went scoreless the rest of the way as the Panthers put up seven unanswered goals to take home a 7-2 win. Penalties didn’t help Ely’s cause, as the Wolves were tagged six times to just once for the Panthers. And Park Rapids made that advantage count as they racked up three power play goals on the afternoon. When Wes Sandy was called for tripping at the 3:10 mark and Jayden Zemke made his own trip to the box 31 seconds later, the Panthers took advantage with a power play goal at the 4:41 mark to close the gap to 2-1. The Panthers did it again nine minutes later, tying the score at the 13:47 mark, while Sandy was back in the box for kneeing. They notched their final power play goal early in the third period while Chase Anderson was out for roughing.
Park Rapids peppered Ely goalie Ben Leeson with 45 shots on goal and they made them count. Leeson had one of his poorest save percentages in recent weeks, which didn’t help the cause. Ely managed a relatively anemic 25 shots on goal.
It was a similar story for the Wolves against Lake the Woods on Friday as Ely jumped out to an early lead only to watch it evaporate. Drew Marolt again led the charge, with a quick unassisted goal at the 2:57 mark. Junior Garrett Rohr put Ely up 2-0 late in the first period with an assist from senior Tommy Homer. But that’s when the Bears went to work, notching six straight goals, two of them on power plays, to take it 6-2.
Leeson struggled again in the net, allowing four goals on 20 shots in 34 minutes of play. Sophomore Lewis Powell took over in the net for part of the game, allowing two goals on 14 shots in 17 minutes of action. The Bears outshot Ely 34-25.
Ely, now 12-8, hosts Bagley on Friday (6 p.m. start) and have a week off before visiting St. Paul Johnson on Friday, Feb. 2.