Elk River Stops Lumberjacks

George Bailey – NSO

Photos By: Ken Palmer

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Lumberjacks heading into the section 7AA semi finals were hoping to continue to play well like they have down down the stretch of the regular season, and a section quarterfinal victory over St. Michael – Albertville gave the Jacks a ton of confidence but it was Elk River – Zimmerman who proved why they were the sections top seed as they would pound the Lumberjacks 9-1 in the section 7AA semifinals at Amzoil Arena in Duluth Saturday afternoon.

The Elks would score three times in the first period on 15 shots on goal, Kyle Bouten, Reggie Lutz, and Peter Jones all scored to make it 3-0 after one period of play.

With the Elks holding a three goal advantage after one period the Lumberjacks were hoping to rebound but again it was the Elks who scored just 36 second into the second period and they added five more second period goals to give the Elks a 9-0 lead after two periods of play.

Matt Kierstad, Noah Hallback, Jax Murray, Ben Johnson, Benton Maas, and Alex Schwab all scored in the second period which made it nine different players to score for Elk River-Zimmerman.

The Jacks who were out shot 31-11 after two periods, out shot the Elks in the third period by a 5-3 margin as the Lumberjacks tallied their lone goal when Christian Pricthett scored on the power play with assists to Dalton Johnson and Jack Kuhlman.

The Elks with the win advance to face Duluth East in the section final Thursday night. The Lumberjacks season ends with a 12-12-3 overall record.

George Bailey can be reached at george@northlandsportsonline.com