The Falcon men's hockey team was defeated by a score of 3-0 by the University of St. Thomas at Hunt Arena on Saturday night.
The Tommies took an early lead in the matchup on the stick of Rob Philipp at 5:27 in the first period. The goal came on freshman Falcon goaltender Scott Lewan (Westland, MI, Alberni Valley, BCHL). Lewan totaled 10 saves throughout the period. Assisting Philipp on the goal were teammates Brandon Bahnemann and Rob Johnson. In net for the Tommies was Tyrone Simcoe, who made 14 saves in the period.
The Falcons nearly tied the score at 13:50 in the first period. Nolan Craner (Plainwell, MI, Alpena, NAHL) sunk a shot, the only UWRF goal at the game, but it was promptly removed from the scoreboard due to a boarding penalty called on Martin Sundstedt (McKinney, TX, Topeka, NAHL).
Shortly following the boarding call, Caleb Wolfgram (White Bear Lake, MN, Topeka, NAHL) received a minor penalty for contact to the head. The Falcons defense came up strong and killed the 5-3 power play against the powerful St. Thomas offense.
The second period consisted of 20 minutes of back and forth, physical hockey. Both teams were kept off the scoreboard by impressive defensive stands and penalty kills throughout the period. Both Lewan and Simcoe tallied 11 saves each in the period.
Chris Hickey broke the scoring drought at 12:33 in the third period by scoring a power play goal following a tripping penalty on Wolfgram. Assisting Hickey on the goal was Evan Mackintosh.
Lewan was pulled from the net at in the final minutes of the game to give the Falcons an extra forward on the ice in an attempt to score. The Tommies took advantage of the empty net opportunity, as Tommy Westmark scored an unassisted goal at 18:55 to put the game away. Lewan totaled 8 saves in the period, while Simcoe tallied 14.
Despite the score, the Falcons put up a valiant effort against the formidable Tommies. The Falcons outshot the Tommies 39 to 29, played well defensively and came up strong on the penalty kill throughout the game.
River Falls looks to rebound from the home defeat when they head to Menomonie to face off against the Blue Devils of UW-Stout. The game, which is scheduled for this upcoming Monday, was initially set to take place on December 11th, but was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. The Falcons look to extend their lopsided 59-18-1 cumulative series record against the Blue Devils when the puck drops at Dunn County Ice Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score
