In a Big Rivers Conference matchup that pitted the Eau Claire Memorial Old Abes  against the Hudson Raiders, the Abes battled to the end for a  ­2-1 win.

The two teams met once before on December 19. The teams needed extra minutes to determine the winner and sent the game to overtime, ending in a 2-1 win for ECM. Similar to that first game, play was intense, but Hudson couldn’t quite get the win to settle the score between the conference rivals.

Six and a half minutes into the game, Tye McLaughlin headed to the box on a boarding call followed by Chuck Bennis for tripping and Charley Graaskamp for high sticking. These penalties gave Hudson almost 6 minutes on the powerplay and almost a minute with a 5-on-3 advantage.

ECM held them off by blocking several shots and good goaltending in Nick Schreiter.

JJ Daulton, netminder for Hudson, had his chance to shine next. He blanked Graaskamp on a breakaway opportunity that stunned the crowd.

Frustrated after not capitalizing on his opportunity, Graaskamp came out ready to score on his next shift. Jake Bresser took a shot from the right faceoff dot that hit Daulton in the cage. Graaskamp was ready for the rebound, and put the first point on the board with a minute and nine seconds to play in the period.

A penalty on Wyatt Dove for holding with just 44 seconds to play in the first gave ECM the momentum coming into the second, and they didn’t let up.

To start the period, Daulton made a crucial save on a setup from Bresser and Kaden Machusak, but that wouldn’t be enough for him that period as ECM outshot Hudson 15-5 in the period.

With 4:25 to play in the period, Dove headed to the penalty box once again after Graaskamp drew a hooking call.

Just over 30 seconds into the powerplay, Machusak tried to redirect a shot from Bresser on the right side, but it flipped up high in front of the net. Dylan Ross was there to catch the puck before he dropped it in the slot and rifled a shot past Daulton for the second goal of the night.

The third period was Hudson’s, outshooting the Old Abes 13-6.

After over 10 minutes of back and forth play filled with strong rushes by both teams, the Raiders tightened the lead to just one goal.

Ariez Sime took a shot that was blocked by an Eau Claire Memorial defenseman and landed right in front of Charlie Singerhouse. He rifled a shot past Schreiter from the mid-slot to put Hudson on the board for the first time in the game with just 4:03 to play. Jack Cernohous also earned an assist on the play.

With 3:21 to play, Cernohous was called for interference, which gave the Old Abes the opportunity to ensure the win, but a hooking call on Graaskamp just over a minute later gave Hudson hope.

As soon as they took over on the powerplay, Hudson pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Despite a good rush at the end, they couldn’t force the game into overtime, and the Old Abes got the 2-1 win.