The Falcon men's hockey team was defeated by the Blugolds of UW- Eau Claire by a score of 6-3 in the second game of a weekend series at Hunt Arena on Saturday night.
Scoring the first goal of the game was Kurt Weston at 12:37 in the first period. Weston's goal came on a power play following an interference penalty on Bryce Ravndalen (Warroad, MN, Waterloo, USHL). Assisting Weston on the goal was Chris Heineman.
Ross Janecyk extended the Blugold lead to two after sinking a shot in the net at 08:51 in the second period on a power play attempt after Tad Norris (Snowmass, CO, Kenai River, NAHL) was sent to the penalty box for high sticking. Janecyk was assisted by Tim Possehl and Robbie Anderegg.
Alec Hagaman (Peoria, IL, Topeka, NAHL) struck back for the Falcons at 10:27. Hagaman's goal came both shorthanded and unassisted, and it was the freshman forward's fourth of the season thus far.
Janecyk responded at 16:24 to give the Blugolds another two-goal lead. Assisting Janecyk on the goal was teammates Jordan Singer and Andrew McCabe.
Shortly after Janecyk's goal, Jon Schreiner (Lakeville, MN, Fairbanks, NAHL) sunk a shot at 16:48 to bring UWRF back within one goal in the game. The goal was the first of the freshman defender's collegiate career, and he was assisted by Martin Sundstedt (McKinney, TX, Topeka, NAHL) and Andrew Harrison (Sault Ste. Marie, ONT, Fargo-Moorhead, NAHL).
Falcon goaltender Scott Lewan (Westland, MI, Alberni Valley, BCHL) struggled against the relentless Blugold offense for the remainder of the period, as Eau Claire would continue to pour it on with goals at 17:14 and 18:58. Scoring the goals were Tyler Romasco and Weston respectively. Romasco's goal was assisted by Andrew Wilcox and Alex Olson. Weston was assisted by Brian Nehring and Travis Peckskamp. Following the goals, the Blugolds held a 5-2 lead as the second period expired.
Jason Yuel (Winnipeg, MAN, Prince George, BCHL) would score his second goal of the weekend series at 3:28 in the third period. Assisting Yuel on the goal was Hagaman. On Friday night, Yuel scored the crucial game-tying goal in the last minute of the third period.
Falcon head coach Steve Freeman pulled Lewan from the net at 58:26 to give his team more forwards on the ice in an effort to generate a scoring opportunity. Both teams battled for the puck and the Falcons were able to get several shots off but Blugold goaltender Brandon Stephenson held strong. Weston acquired possession of the puck and passed to Janecyk in the closing seconds of the game. Janecyk scored a hat trick for the evening on the empty net, giving the Blugold's a 6-3 lead as time expired.
Lewan made 11 saves in the first period, eight in the second and nine in the third for a total of 28 saves throughout the game. The freshman goaltender now holds a record of 1-2-1 on the season, while Stephenson has extended his season record to 3-0 as goaltender for Eau Claire after making 19 saves in the game.
Penalties continued to hurt the Falcons as they totaled 13 penalties for 37 minutes in the game. UWRF's penalty squad played well regardless, killing all but two of the power play opportunities.
The Falcon's now hold a record of 3-3-1 on the season, going 2-2 in NCHA conference play. UWRF will be on the road next weekend, as they will face off against the Green Knights of St. Norbert College in a two game weekend series. The game will be highly competitive as the Green Knights went to the Division III NCAA Championship Game last season and plan on building on their previous success. Action for Friday night's game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
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