Elk River’s postseason offensive onslaught continued, helping the Elks advance to the section championship.

The top-seeded Elk River got goals from nine players en route to a 9-1 victory over fifth-seeded Cloquet-Esko-Carlton in the first Class 2A, Section 7 semifinal game at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minn., on Saturday.

Elk River defeated St. Francis 10-1 in the quarterfinals on Feb. 17.

The Elks got scoring from up and down their lineup against the Lumberjacks, making it difficult for Cloquet clamp down to stop a specific line.

“I think when any team has balance, that takes away from them just trying to focus on one line,” Elks coach Gordie Roberts said. “We have good kids with skill and hockey sense. We do a lot of work in practice that gives us the opportunity to be a good skating, skilled team.”

Elk River got on the scoreboard just over 7 minutes into the game as Kyle Bouten tapped the puck in back door on Lumberjacks goaltender Eric Newman.

Elks’ leading goal scorer Reggie Lutz added another tally only 19 seconds later, and Elk River was nearly lights out from there. 

Roberts attributed his team’s success in large part to that early scoring outbreak. 

“Whoever scores the first goal of the game, if you end up being up a couple goals, the percentage is over 90 percent that you’ll win, so it definitely sets the tone,” he said. “I was happy with our play.”

The Elks held a commanding 9-0 lead by the end of the second period, but Cloquet didn’t fold. The Lumberjacks came out in the third with a renewed energy and ended the shutout on Christian Pritchett’s power-play goal only 35 seconds into the period. 

Cloquet controlled the play in the third period, leading to multiple quality scoring chances, but the Lumberjacks could not catch the Elks. 

Elk River sophomore goalie Ben Meyers turned away 15 shots in the game, a performance Roberts said was good despite Meyers not being tested.

“I thought he played well,” Roberts said. “It’s hard not seeing a lot of shots, but he made some good stops.”

First Report

Nine Elk River skaters scored as the top-seeded Elks defeated fifth-seeded Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 9-1 in a Class 2A, Section 7 semifinal game Saturday afternoon at Amsoil Arena in Duluth, Minnesota.

Elk River sophomore forward Kyle Bouten opened the scoring barrage with a power-play goal 7 minutes, 5 seconds into the first period, and the Elks’ onslaught continued with two more goals in the first period and six goals in the second.

Lumberjacks sophomore forward Christians Pritchett ended the shutout bid of Elk River sophomore goaltender Ben Meyers with a goal 35 seconds in the third.

The Elks outshot Cloquet 34-16.

Elk River advances to the section championship game Feb. 26 at Amsoil Arena, where it will face the winner of the game between No. 2 seed Grand Rapids and the No. 3 seed Duluth East.

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