Special teams proved to be the difference for Eau Claire Memorial Thursday night, as the Old Abes skated past New Richmond, 4-2, at Hobbs Ice Center.

The Tigers played well in the first period, outshooting Memorial 14-7, but it was the Abes grabbing the lead on a Blake Ahneman shorthanded goal at the 7:42 mark. Later in the period, New Richmond generated numerous scoring chances with Abes forward Mack Diggins serving a major penalty, but goalie Evan Madsen made several key saves to give Memorial the lead heading into the first intermission. .

While both teams continued their fast-paced hockey in the second, Memorial managed to double its lead on another shorthanded goal, this one from senior forward Gabe Pankratz at the 5:42 mark.  The Tigers got on the board just over two minutes later, when Brody Jackson’s wrist shot from the slot slipped through Madsen’s catching glove.  Just 21 seconds later, however, Ahneman notched his second of the game, with the assist going to Pankratz, to make it 3-1.  The scoring barrage continued 26 seconds after that, when Steven Chapman scored to make it 3-2.  It stayed that way until very late in the period, when some tic-tac-toe power play passing from Diggings to Pankratz set up sophomore Luke Schemberger’s tally with just 11 seconds remaining.

The third period saw plenty of great chances for both teams.  Ahneman was denied on a breakaway by New Richmond sophomore goalie Drake Bowman, while Madsen made some spectacular saves to keep the score 4-2 in favor of the Old Abes.

“I think we can still straighten up a couple things,” Ahneman said about Memorial’s special teams success vs. the Tigers, “but I think we just played it more simple today getting pucks on net, getting to the net and burying rebounds.”

With the win, the Old Abes improved to 2-1-1 overall and 1-0-1 in Big Rivers Conference play.  

“I think we have some depth at all positions,” said Memorial head coach Jeff Schemberger about his team through four games,  “we’ve been moving some things around with our lines, and it takes time for guys to gel playing together, but I really like how 9 (Ahneman), 10 (Pankratz), and 28 (Arik Karnitz) played tonight, they had a lot of opportunities and out other lines played well also.”

New Richmond dropped to 2-1-0 and 1-1-0 in the BRC, but head coach John Larson was still upbeat about his team’s effort, especially with the Tigers missing two key players

“Expectations are high for us,” says Larson, “and we’ve got guys in new roles and new spots, but we’ve certainly done a lot of good things that I’ve been happy with. We’re getting better, we’re growing and developing every day.”

New Richmond is back in action Saturday, when the Tigers take the trip to Superior, before a return visit to Hobbs Ice Center the following Thursday to face off with Eau Claire North.  

Meanwhile, Memorial gets a week to prepare for its next game on December 12, when the Old Abes visit River Falls.