The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys' hockey team snapped a three-game losing streak with an important 4-2 win over Stillwater on Saturday night at Northwoods Credit Union Arena. The team then doubled its fun with a 6-4 section win over St. Francis on Monday evening.
The 'Jacks (14-8-2) close out their regular season on Thursday with a home matchup against Duluth Marshall.
CEC outshot the Ponies 21-4 in the first period of Saturday's game but only led 2-1 after that session with Koby Bender and Tanner Robideaux scoring power play goals. After Wyatt Stotts tied the game for Stillwater early in the second period, Kyle Klatt broke the tie for good with 1:57 left in the second. Karson Kuhlman hit an empty net with four seconds to play for the final goal in a game that saw CEC outshoot its visitors 40-24.
Justin Ketola made 22 saves on 24 shots in the CEC goal.
The 'Jacks survived a third-period rally to win on Monday, with Dalton Johnson, Weston Michaud, Kuhlman, James Newgren and Nate Niemi building a 5-1 lead after two periods.
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St. Francis dented Ketola for three third-period goals, though, but Newgren's second goal of the game with 6:14 to play gave CEC a 6-3 lead and the team held on from there.
Ketola stopped 23 of 27 shots in goal.
The Moose Lake Area boys (0-22-0) lost two games last week and will close its regular season with a Thursday home game against North Shore and a Saturday contest at Greenway. The team faced Eveleth-Gilbert on Tuesday evening.
The Rebels fell 8-2 at North Shore on February 7 with Cole Lower and Tyler Hoffman scoring second period goals and Gage Mohelsky making 58 saves in goal.
The next night, Moose Lake Area fell 13-0 to Legacy Christian at Riverside Arena, with Mohelsky facing 58 shots on goal in the contest.
