ELY – The young Ely hockey team finished the 2020-2021 season without a win, following a 10-0 loss to Duluth Marshall last Thursday at the Ely Ice Arena. Their playoff season ended abruptly this week with a report of COVID-19 on the team. The Timberwolves (0-11) were seeded 10th in the Section 7A playoffs and were set to travel to International Falls on Thursday.
“Our hockey team is out of the playoffs and in quarantine this week because of a positive COVID-19 test,” said 6-12 Principal Megan Anderson. She confirmed that a 10th-grade learning cohort in the school is also affected by the positive coronavirus case.
In their final game of the season last Thursday, Ely kept the Hilltoppers to just one goal in the first period. Goalie Chase Sandberg turned away 11 other scoring chances. The Timberwolves took six shots on goal in the period.
Duluth poured on the heat in the second, scoring six times on 24 scoring chances to take a 7-0 lead, and added three more goals in the final period. Ely finished the game with 12 shots to the goal.
Both teams were called for six penalty minutes on three infractions.
Ben Cavalier replaced Sandberg in goal at 17:54.
The Timberwolves endured a brutal three-game road trip to start the month of March, losing 11-0 to International Falls on March 4, dropping a 9-2 match at Bagley/Fosston on March 6, followed by a 9-0 loss at Eveleth Gilbert on March 9.
In the game against International Falls, Ely fell behind 4-0 after the first period, was down 10-0 after two periods, and gave up one more goal in the final frame.
All of the Timberwolves’ 15 scoring chances to the net came in the final period. International Falls had 63 shots on goal against Ely goalie Chase Sandberg.
The Broncos scored on two of three power plays in the game. The Timberwolves had three power play opportunities.
Against Bagley Fosston, Ely scored in the first period after falling behind 1-0 early. Jimmy Zupancich scored an even-strength goal at 7:52 with assists by Drew Marolt and Jack Mathias.
The Flyers scored twice more in the first period to make the score 3-1, and three more times in the second period to increase their lead to 6-1. After the Flyers took a 7-1 lead early in the final period, the Timberwolves scored again at 12:09 on an even-strength goal by Mathias with an assist by Zupancich. Bagley/Fosston scored two more times in the period.
Ely had 37 shots on goal and The Flyers had 16 scoring chances. The Timberwolves were 0-4 on power play chances while Bagley/Fosston was 0-5.
The Eveleth/Gilbert Wolverines took a 2-0 lead in the first period, added one more goal in the second, and tacked on six more goals in the final period. The Timberwolves had eight shots on goal for the night. The Wolverines took 58 shots to the net against Ely goalie Chase Sandberg. Eveleth-Gilbert was 0-3 on power plays.