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HUDSON, WI—There was a rare and motivational goose-egg shining on the scoreboard in Drewiske Arena at the end of period one Tuesday night in Hudson. And it didn’t sit well with Chippewa Falls/Menomonie head coach Mikayla Hogan who had made shots on goal a point of emphasis in her pre-game speech. “Not sure I’ve been on the wrong side of a goose egg for shots in a period before as a coach or player,” she stated.

But there it was in neon lights, Hudson 1, CFM 0 and right below Hudson 7, CFM 0.

With ACDC’s Hell’s Bells still ringing in my head, (perhaps the best intro song ever), the Hudson Raiders got down to business in this Big River’s Conference clash. They took advantage of the Sabers’ first period indifference and put them in a 1-0 hole on a goal by Laura Johnson at 10:38. A good forechecking effort by Johnson and Marley Larson sent a loose puck toward the Sabers net that Johnson followed and pushed past CFM netminder Aubrie Dowd. It was Johnson 9th goal and 6th in her last eight games.

Hudson flirted with a 2-0 lead when Cora Chiodo got a clean shot from between the hash marks, but Dowd turned it aside. The Sabers missed a pass on a 2 on 2 rush late and got a powerplay with 44 seconds left in the period. Not even the man advantage could produce that first shot on goal.

“We had some very real conversations between periods and came out ready to go,” said Hogan. “All credit to Hudson though as they came out flying and were all over us for three periods, they played the top of the circles to the blue line in both zones extremely well. I don’t know how many times I heard ‘it feels like they’re everywhere’ on the bench tonight.”

Period two had a much different feel to it right from the drop of the puck. The Sabers responded quickly to Hogan’s between periods motivation and capitalized on their remaining powerplay, scoring, ironically on their first shot of the game 1:01 into the second period. On a 2 on 1 rush, Allison Xu looked off Libby Wiensch driving to the net and zipped a wrist shot past goalie Lily Kroening to tie the game. It was the freshman goaltenders second start of the season.

The game would stay tied at 1-1 for the next 25 minutes as the teams exchanged scoring chances met with big saves and a pipe or two. The first came on a breakaway by Hudson’s Lauren Kowalsky that found Dowd’s blocker. With just over four minutes to play in the second period Rhylee Buesgen’s point shot rebounded to Olivia Herr on the backdoor, but the junior winger couldn’t get it from her backhand to her forehand quick enough. Avery Lindstrom picked up the same puck and shot it over an open net as Kroening had slid past the post.

Period three produced more of the same. Xu got a quick shot from the left dot that came right back to her where she moved it backdoor to Wiensch, but the pass was too hot to handle. Hudson defenseman Finley Murphy made a strong play to take a chance away from Linstrom coming off the wall minutes later as they both went to the ice. With six minutes to play a CFM blue line turnover sent Cora Chiodo in with Aubrey Flattum, but Chiodo chose to shoot and Dowd made the stop.

Lindstrom finally erased that one from the scoreboard right off an offensive zone face-off with 5:12 to play. Defenseman Elle Ash kept a puck in along the wall and Lindstrom grabbed it and attacked through the dot whipping a wrist shot past Kroening’s glove giving the Sabers a 2-1 lead.

With time evaporating late, Defenseman Gabby Schock stepped past the CFM defense inside the blue line and had an open shot from the left dot, but Dowd made a pad save. The Raiders took their time out with 1:18 to play. With Kroening on the bench, Hudson executed their face-off to near perfection. Chiodo won the draw clean to Julianna Cahoon. The senior captain’s shot sailed past Dowd hitting the post and caroming behind Dowd to the far wall. Marley Larson had a late chance in heavy traffic in front, but Dowd persevered for the win.

“In the end, our scorers, Allison and Avery, put the puck away, our D cornerstone Rhylee controlled the blue line, and Aubrie played phenomenal in net,” assessed Hogan after the game. “If we continue to put that recipe together, we should see success.”

Despite matching two lines against three for much of the game, CFM’s Lindstrom and Xu seemingly never run out gas. Both have a gear that constantly challenges and creates opportunities. The Sabers play a trio of freshmen in Kinzleigh Cody, Libby Wiensch and Brooke Brovold, but they depend on the Xu/Lindstrom duo to get them into the win column. In their 8 wins and 1 tie the duo has scored 17 goals. In the team’s six loses they have combined for only two goals.

Hudson seemed to be a pass or two from a potentially different outcome. Hudson head coach Matt Szypura’s summary was short, “We couldn’t capitalize on the chances we had, and overall, our execution was not at its best.”

The effort and tenacity of juniors Arden Fenstermacher and Izzy Burant was on constant display for the Raiders. An offense that has averaged 3.33 goals a game fell short and the PA announcer was only able to cue up “Chelsea Dagger” one time. The loss, their fourth in a row, moved Hudson into last place in the Big Rivers at 1-4 and 6-10 overall. The Sabers are 2-4 and 8-6-1.

“Proud of being able to grind out a BRC win,” Hogan added. “We challenged the girls that the third period was the most important 17 minutes of the season so far and we needed to decide who we are as a team. We saw many girls step up and meet that challenge, now we must figure out how to engage that without needing to heighten the moment emotionally.”

Hudson will play Winona (6-12) on Saturday, while the Sabers welcome Coulee Region (3-11-1) to Chippewa Falls on Thursday, before a big clash with 6th ranked Black River Falls (12-5-1) in Tomah on Saturday. CFM has won five of their last six.

Three Stars of the Game: 1-Dowd, 2-Lindstrom/Xu, 3-Chiodo

Blue Collar: H-Fenstermacher/Burant, CFM-Wiensch