The Falcon men's hockey team was defeated by a score of 4-2 by the Blue Devils of UW- Stout in an NCHA game in Menominee on Monday night.
The Falcons disappointing road loss came on their third game in the past four days. The game was a make-up for a matchup scheduled on December 11th that was postponed due to poor weather conditions. River Falls now holds a cumulative record of 6-8-1 on the season, going 2-6-0 in conference play.
Scoring the first goal of the night at Dunn County Ice Arena in front of the 513 fans in attendance was Blue Devil Robert Carr. Carr's sixth goal of the season came at 3:39 in the first period on Falcon goaltender Scott Lewan (Westland, MI, Alberni Valley, BCHL). Assisting Carr on the goal were teammates Dan Cecka and Branden Gay.
Stout's leading goal scorer this season, Gay, extended their lead to two goals at 7:17 in the first period. Gay was unassisted on his 10th goal of the year.
Caleb Wolfgram (White Bear Lake, MN, Topeka, NAHL) scored the first Falcon goal of the game on the scoreboard at 10:43 in the first period. The goal was Wolfgram's first of the season thus far. Assisting Wolfgram on the goal was Geoff Shewmake (Chicago, IL, Bradford, GMHL) and Chris Salomone (Homer Glen, IL, Traverse City, NAHL).
Lewan totaled 11 saves in the period. Nick Hopper played in net for the Blue Devils and record 7 saves in the period.
Kevin O'Donnell scored his fifth goal of the season at 18:33 in the second period. O'Donnell's goal was the lone goal of the second period, and it put the Blue Devils up by two scores.
Lewan totaled 12 saves in the period to Hopper's 10.
Nolan Craner (Plainwell, MI, Alpena, NAHL) was sent to the penalty box early in the third period for interference. The Falcons were unaffected by their opponents power play opportunity, as Josh Calleja (New Richmond, Wisconsin, MnJHL)scored his sixth goal of the year, shorthanded, with an assist from Justin Brossman (Littleton, CO, Sioux City, USHL). The goal came at 4:25.
Both Calleja and Brossman are tied for first place on the team in points scored this year with 14. Both of the Falcon veteran forwards have tallied six goals and eight assists so far this year.
Cecka put the game away for the Blue Devils with a goal on Lewan at 18:08 in the third period. The goal came on a power play opportunity following a series of penalties at 17:06 that gave the Blue Devils a 4-3 chance. Falcons Tad Norris (Snowmass, CO, Kenai River, NAHL) and Wolfgram were sent to the penalty box for interference and roughing respectively. Blue Devil Sam Car also received a two minute minor penalty for roughing.
Lewan made four saves in the third period for a total of 27 throughout the game. Hopper made 12 saves in the period for a total of 29. The freshman Lewan has now dropped to 4-6-1 on the year.
The Falcons will be looking to rebound from their two game losing skid when they face off against the Saints of the College of Saint Scholastica for a two game series this weekend at Hunt Arena. The first game is scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. The Falcons currently hold a 57-35-3 series record against the Saints.
Box Score
