'Jacks use fast start to top Rebels

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team came out fast and determined Tuesday night at Northwoods Credit Union Arena as the Lumberjacks scored three times in the first seven minutes. Although the Moose Lake Area team threatened, they couldn't overcome the CEC lead.

The win moved the 'Jacks to 2-1 on the season. CEC defeated Anoka 3-0 Saturday in Anoka, but dropped the season opener last Thursday by a score of 4-1 to Grand Rapids-Greenway.

On Tuesday, the Lumberjacks' first goal came just 51 seconds into the game when Reese Kuklinski beat netminder Mallory Hartl to give CEC a 1-0 lead. Emma Parks and Brayley Merrier assisted on the first goal of the game. Three-and-a-half minutes later, Allie Jones made it 2-0 with assists going to Kuklinski and Emma Morton.

"We got off to the fast start Tuesday and it was so nice to see the girls playing our system and seeing it work so well," said head coach Kennedy Weets. "[After] the fast start though, we started playing a little sluggish, and saw the Rebels score and cut it to a two-goal lead before an empty netter at the end."

The 'Jacks closed out their first-period scoring rush at 6:24, when Hadley Carlson tallied her first goal of the season with Parks notching the lone assist.

MLA scored the only goal in the next period when Hallie Klavu scored for the Rebels at the 15:22 mark of the second to create a two-goal deficit heading into the third period. Klavu's goal was unassisted.

"They came out to play in that first period," said Rebels head coach Reilly Fawcett. "We can't let teams jump out like that, because we are going to be a team that works hard to get goals." Fawcett called this year's MLA group "a blue collar team that works hard every game, but we need to play all three periods and can't afford not to play hard all the time."

Allie Jones scored her second goal of the game late in the third period to ensure the Lumberjacks victory on the night.

"This is a young team with a solid core of seniors," Weets said. "The seniors have the young girls playing on their sides, and they have been great leaders for the younger girls, as they were in the same position a few years ago."

The Lumberjacks outshot the Rebels 34-11 on the night and were 1-2 on the power play.

The Rebels finished the game 0-4 on the power play. The Rebels fell to 0-2 on the season.

Isabella Strang was the winning goaltender Tuesday night as she stopped 10 of the 11 shots she faced. Mallory Hartl stopped 31 shots in the loss for ML/WR.

With no home games on the schedule until Dec. 3, the Lumberjacks will be back in action Saturday afternoon away, against Bloomington Jefferson. The Rebels were looking at a tough matchup Thursday against North Shore Storm at Riverside Arena in Moose Lake.