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Old Abes Take Care of Business in Tuesday Night Surge

By Cade Marschall, Contributer, 01/29/25, 8:30AM CST

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Two of the top four teams in the Big Rivers Conference faced off at Hobbs ice arena in Eau Claire on Tuesday night. The high scoring one sided showdown between the Eau Claire Memorial Old Abes and River Falls Wildcats resulted in a big win for the Old Abes not only on the scoresheet, but in the standings. The Old Abes made a statement with a strong 7-1 win, putting on a show for their home crowd.

The fast paced open ice first period took a quick start with chances on both ends, including a River Falls power play within the first 4 minutes of the game, where they would go on to hit what would be numerous posts, early on the man advantage.

As the penalty expired, it was Gabe Pankratz for Eau Claire who took matters into his own hands with a wicked wrister in stride from the left dot, going upstairs to put the Old Abes up 1 five minutes into the period. This was not only a dominant period, but a dominant game from the Senior forward, causing havoc every shift for the opposing Wildcats.

Six minutes later Mack Diggins forced a turnover behind the opposing net on the forecheck and left an absolute platter of a dish for a wide open Gabe Pankratz to roof his 2nd of the period upstairs in tight on the Wildcats netminder. This line was a nightmare all night for the River Falls Wildcats.

A late push from River Falls was not enough as the Old Abes comfortably left the first period up 2-0.

In what was a slow start to the second period for River Falls, credit must be given to the Old Abes for their flying start. After peppering the Wildcats net minder and maintaining puck possession the offensive zone for nearly a ⅓ of the period, freshman Mason Flannery broke the ice, going to the “dirty area” and banging home a shot in tight on the goal line from the left side of the cage, putting his team up 3-0.

River Falls woke up midway through the second and started playing stick on puck, hard nose forecheck hockey. In a quick turn of events, Wildcat Defensemen Lars Briese fired a laser of a one timer off a pass from Jaxson Flanagan. The shot hit the post, then the back of Memorial goaltender and trickled across the goal line making it 3-1.

This seemed like a momentum shifter for the River Falls Wildcats, as their next shift was near dominant perfection in the offensive zone. But a quick snipe on the rush from Old Abe forward Mack Diggins silenced any sort of momentum, making it 4-1 Memorial. Senior forward Arik Karnitz added another minutes later with a slap shot post and in through traffic.

With about two minutes to go in the second River Falls forward Jaxson Flanagan, who was very noticeable offensively all night, made a dazzling move off the rush and hitting the crossbar, but his teammate could not pickup the loose change completely, as the referee called no goal, saying the rebound shot did not cross the goal line. This then led to a Wildcat unsportsmanlike penalty, where the Old Abes potted another, making it 6-1.

Wildcat netminder Daniel Linn made numerous stellar saves in the third, including a few flashy ones with his glove hand. But the Eau Claire Memorial offensive zone pressure and quick rushes were too much for River Falls to get anything going. The Old Abes added another tally to their lead with just under six minutes to go in the third. Putting their fellow conference rivals into running time and closing out the game 7-1.

Eau Claire Memorial look to carry their momentum and will be put to the test on Thursday night at Hudson, who are currently 2nd in the Big Rivers and lead the Old Abes in the standings by just 1 point. They have 4 games remaining, all of which are conference matchups. River Falls will look to bounce back on Friday with a road trip to Two Harbors for a matchup against North Shore.

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