Set in the confines of the Dunn County Arena, Superior and Hudson squared off with the section 1 title and a trip to Madison on the line.

The teams did not dissapoint. Time and space were at a premium in this game as both teams pressed the attack from the opening faceoff to the sound of the horn ending the period. Hudson had it going early as they carried play and tested Spartan netminder Paxton Paine repeatedly,lucky for Superior he was on his game. The Raiders came in waves and Paine played his angles well and with a lucky bounce here and there Superior came out of the period unscathed. With the torrid pace of the game there was only one penalty in the scoreless period that against Spartan Dane Sislo for a hook at the 13:00 mark, a testament to the conditioning of these two thouroughbreds. Saves in the period were 4 for Hudson netminder Mac Alboreo and 11 for Paine of Superior.

The action continued after the resurfacing without a let up. End to end rushes, solid positioning by both teams, a few scoring attempts a breakout and a battle to get the upper hand. Superior would be the first to get on the board when Aaron Miller gathered a Raider clearing attempt near the blue line and found some wiggle room to make a drive to the net. With only one Raider to beat he cut into the left face off circle did a beautiful toe drag at the dot to get around him and bore down on Alboreo. The netminder who had been perfect tried in vain to get his shoulder up to beat the laser Miller had targeted for the net. The puck found it's mark just under the crossbar stick side and Superior was up 1-0 at 6:38 of the 2nd. It was only the 6th Spartan shot of the game. Superior gained some momentum from that goal and applied pressure to get some breathing room they were aided by a Parker Shefveland penalty at 9:45 for crosschecking.

With the man advantage the Spartans pressed the attack getting several pucks to the net but the raiders D and the solid play by Alboreo their efforts were thwarted. Superior lost track of Shefveland and when an errant pass to the Spartan D slid to center ice he was exiting the penalty box. He gathered up the loose puck at center ice and turned on the burners, cutting to the net across the inside of the left faceoff circle he set Paine up with a nifty toe drag of his own. He pulled the Spartan netminder to the center of the net then pulled the puck back and tucked it into the open side of the net Paine had just vacated. The tide turned as Hudson found renewed energy the resulting pressure led to a penalty by the Spartans Miller at 15:02 for boarding. As the Raiders turned up the heat Paine stood tall turning back the barrage. The Spartan D did their part sprawling in front of shots and clearing bodies so the netminder could see the action.Paine came up huge with 36 seconds left as a shot came from the left circle which he stopped somehow he was able to slide to his left and block a point blank rebound which had landed on a Raider stick.The period ended when he again smothered a tip off a blast from the top of the slot as time expired. Shots for the game at this point were 19 for Hudson and 13 for Superior with the score knotted at one each.

The teams skated nonstop through the 3rd period which seemed like running time as neither team slowed down.Whistles were few and far between as both teams played flawless hockey. The pace must have taken it's toll on Superior as the Spartan bench called timeout with 1:21 left in regulation. The break allowed Superior to exit the period tied with Hudson 1-1.Shots still favored Hudson 24 to 17. With overtime looming both teams gathered for the 3 minute break plotting the stategy they hoped would take them to Madison yet again.

With 5:39 left in the overtime Hudson was whisteled for too many men on the ice.Superior turned up the heat and the Raiders dug in refusing to buckle. They were able to kill the penalty but a weak clearing attempt was picked up along the right boards by Dane Sislo near the hash marks he got the puck cleanly to Trent Olson set up at the top of the circle. He slid to the top of the slot and fired a shot thru traffic that the screened Hudson minder wasn't able to see.The puck found the back of the net with 3:45 left in the ot. Shots for the game favored Hudson 25-24.The teams left it all on the ice in this one.

Superior moves on the face Fond du Lac in a quarter final game at 8:15 Thursday in Madison.