The Falcon men's hockey team was defeated by the Saints of the College of St. Scholastica by a score of 3-2 at Hunt Arena on Friday night.
The first period remained scoreless as both teams played 20 minutes of clean, physical hockey. Starting at goaltender for the Falcons was the veteran keeper Eric Babcook (Centennial, CO, Canmore, AJHL). Babcook was starting over the freshman Scott Lewan (Westland, MI, Alberni Valley, BCHL), who allowed four goals against UW-Stout on Monday. Babcook made five saves in the period, as the Falcons defense was able to keep the Saints from getting many opportunities to shoot the puck. In net for the Saints was Patrick Sullivan, who stopped all 12 shots on goal by the Falcons in the period.
The Falcons were unable to put a goal on the scoreboard in the first period despite having three power play opportunities. River Falls still made the most of their chances by outshooting the Saints and maintaining excellent puck possession throughout the first 20 minutes.
Scoring the first goal of the game was Eric Kraft of St. Scholastica. The goal came at 5:13 in the second period, and Kraft was assisted by Riley Riddell.
River Falls played superbly in regards to avoiding penalties. The Falcons were cited with their first penalty of the game at 13:59 in the second period. The Falcons remained unfazed by their opponents power play opportunity, as they tied the score on the stick of Josh Calleja (New Richmond, Wisconsin, MnJHL) at 14:54. Assisting Calleja on the shorthanded goal was Derek Kaiser (Crookston, MN, Alexandria, NAHL). The goal was Calleja's seventh of the season thus far, and the assist was Kaiser's first of the year. With the goal, Calleja now leads the Falcons in points this season.
The Falcons took the lead exactly three minutes later. Daman Milsom received a two minute minor penalty for roughing at 16:23. River Falls capitalized on the power play chance, as Andy Inderieden (Maple Grove, MN, Topeka, NAHL) scored his second goal of the year to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead. Assisting Inderieden on the goal at 17:54 was Ben Beaudoin (Inver Grove Heights, MN, Southern Minnesota, NAHL) and John Bullis (Frisco, TX, Texas, NAHL).
Babcook made five saves in the period. The Falcons outshot the Saints once again, as Sullivan made 10 saves.
The heated matchup remained 2-1 in favor of River Falls for the first half of the third period as both teams battled one another for possession of the puck in the crucial NCHA matchup. Tyler Miller tied the score at 11:11 with an unassisted goal on Babcook.
Alex Valenti took the lead for the Saints at 17:14. The goal, which both stunned the Falcons and silenced the excited crowd at Hunt Arena, would be the final score of the game. Valenti was assisted by Brenden Bradbury and the goaltender Sullivan.
Both goaltenders made 10 saves in the third period. Babcook now holds a record of 3-3-0 on the season.
The Falcons have dropped to 6-9-1 this season, going 2-7-0 in conference play following the 3-2 loss. River Falls looks to rebound from their two-game losing skid when they face off against the Saints for the second game of the weekend series tomorrow night at Hunt. The opening faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
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