Calumet junior forward Ayden Williams (16) shoots on Negaunee sophomore goaltender Ryan Kerkela (34) on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, in Calumet, Mich. (Adam Niemi/The Daily Mining Gazette)

CALUMET — The Calumet Copper Kings wasted no time in taking care of the Negaunee Miners on the ice at home on Saturday. They defeated them 9-1 in just two periods due to the mercy rule. It looked like a varsity team playing a junior-varsity squad, an in many ways it was.

“We are such a young team,” said Miner head coach Dale Hopper. We have 16 freshman and sophomores and two seniors. We lost around eight upperclassmen last year.”

On the upper hand, the Copper Kings have just two sophomores, and the rest of their lineup is juniors and seniors. In short, the Copper Kings stayed one step ahead of their opponent. They scored five goals in the first and four in the second.

In the first, Tom Erkkila opened the scoring at the 1:17 mark. Carson Kariniemi then got his first of two goals in the opening period. Dan Loukus then found net at 10:25. Less than two minutes later, Nolan Sturos put it past the Miners goalkeeper Ryan Kerkela to close out the first

“We ran into a team that moved their feet and the puck well on us,” said Hopper.

Calumet out shot Negaunee 41-9.

In the second, the Miners were able to take advantage of a power-play opportunity. While Caden Lehto was sent to the box for hooking, Negaunee’s Easton Palomaki was able to pick up a loose puck in the slot and push it past Calumet net minder Jack Helminen.

“That was a bright spot for us,” Hopper said.

For the Copper Kings, Jackson Rilei had the first and the last goals of the second. In between came scores by Ayden Williams and Dean Loukus.

“We had a lot of offensive fire power throughout our line up,” said Calumet head coach Dan Giachino. “We moved the puck well and attacked the net.”

Negaunee 0 1 — 1

Calumet 5 4 — 9