Kingsford sophomore goalie Alex Hemgren swipes away a Jeffers shot as freshman Jacob Waara (18) and senior Jake Deuter (8) help prevent the Jets from getting a rebound opportunity during the second period Tuesday at Mountain View Ice Arena. (Ron Deuter photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN – It’s been a challenging first four games of the varsity hockey season for the young Kingsford Flivvers with three road games and two state-ranked opponents on the docket, including Tuesday’s home opener against Division 3 No. 7 Jeffers.

A state semifinalist a season ago, the Jets got two goals from sophomore Max Nordstrom and topped the Flivvers 5-1 at Mountain View Ice Arena.

Despite the four-goal final margin, the contest didn’t have that blowout feel by any means. Hard-fought both ways, the game was scoreless for most of the first period before Nordstrom connected late in the frame. Jeffers (5-1-0) was able to tack on two more in each of the second and third periods to keep the Flivvers (2-2-0) at bay.

“Those guys beat (state-ranked) Esky 5-3,” Flivvers head coach Greg Wadge said. “They’re coming off a season that was really good for them last year. I think it’s good (for us to see teams like this). A lot of the teams in the U.P. have played six or seven games already. This was our fourth so it’s still early, but yeah, I really liked our effort tonight and thought the boys played hard for sure.”

Sophomore goalie Alex Hemgren got his second start of the year and again showed continued progress as the Jets flung 34 shots his way. Hemgren did not seem overwhelmed by the challenge and produced several nice saves – with a few defensive breakdowns contributing to a couple of the Jets’ tallies.

“Overall, Alex was excellent between the pipes,” Wadge said. “He made some big saves.”

Senior captain Will Murvich busted the shutout with a wrist shot past senior netminder Kasen Helminen at 14:22 of the third for his first goal of the season, with an assist from junior defenseman Seth Greenleaf. The Flivvers were limited to just 15 shots overall.

“We did have some opportunities for sure,” Wadge said. “We just didn’t capitalize on them, especially in the third. But I was super pleased with the effort.”

Seniors Easton Therrian and Brogan Turner put in the second-period goals for Jeffers, those coming at 11:45 and 5:46 of the stanza. Sophomore Blake Heltunen made it 4-0 at 16:21 of the third before the Murvich goal. Nordstrom secured his second marker with 4:14 to play in the game.

Kingsford killed off two power plays in the game but was unable to cash in the four power play chances they had, including two opportunities with the man advantage in the third after the Murvich goal.

Up next for the Flivvers is a trip to DePere, Wis., on Friday night. After that, Kingsford plays in the Bay City Showcase on Dec. 12-13.