Ely’s high school hockey team rode a fast start to take the first game of a two-game weekend home series, but the Timberwolves weren’t able to sustain that momentum the second time around.
On the heels of a 7-2 victory by Ely, Mora turned the tables Saturday and got a late goal - as well an empty-netter - to get a 6-4 win and a split at the Ely Arena.
The Wolves are now 2-3 on the season, but misfired on a chance to climb over the .500 mark.
Ely 7, Mora 2
In the Dec. 12 opener, the Wolves caught fire early on, scoring three times in a three-minute span to take a 3-0 lead in the opening game.
Lucas Stalboerger, Jayden Zemke and Sean Merriman all had evenstrength goals.
Owen Marolt’s second-period tally made it 4-0 and the Mustangs never got closer than three goals during the evening.
Senior Rhett Johnson scored twice and added an assist for the Wolves, while Merriman had three assists to go with his single goal.
Evan Leeson also scored for the winners, and senior netminder Lewis Powell picked up his second win of the winter, notching 24 saves.
Ely’s Hunter Halbakken added two assists and the Wolves overcame five penalties.
Jacob Szucs and Ty Stanchfield scored Mora’s two goals, and goalie Dave Price wound up with 24 saves.
Mora 6, Ely 4
Saturday brought a back-and-forth affair, with Ely rebounding after falling behind 2-0.
Halbakken trimmed the lead in half midway through the second frame, and after Mora countered to retake a two-goal lead, Ely responded with back-to-back goals by Merriman and Cooper Mayranen and the contest was tied after two periods.
The Mustangs’ Stanchfield put his team up 4-3 and the Mustangs led for much of the period, but Ely applied pressure late and Johnson tipped in a shot to make it 4-4 with 3:12 left.
It looked like the game was headed toward overtime but again Stanchfield took over for Mora.
His blast from the right side evaded Ely goaltender Henry Fetterer up high, and it was 5-4 Mora.
After a timeout, the Wolves pulled Fetterer for an extra attacker, but after a shot, Mora got control of the puck and Noah Donaghue sent it all the way down and into the open goal to ice things.
Stanchfield had a four-point afternoon for the winners, finishing with two goals and two assists. Szucs, Ethan Stromberg and Dakota Dickson also added goals, and both Szucs and Blake Karnik finished with two assists.
Winning goalie Easton Hohn stopped 31 of the 35 shots he faced.
Fetterer, a freshman, notched 30 saves for the Wolves, and Johnson had a three-point day with a goal and two assists.
Leeson, Marolt, Mayranen and Zemke all added assists for the Wolves.
• The Wolves are in the midst of a southern road swing this weekend, starting with a Friday night game at Faribault and continuing with Saturday’s noon tilt at Austin.
Those are the Wolves’ only games until after the holidays and play resumes Jan. 3 with a home contest against Lake of the Woods.
