The Falcon men's hockey team has concluded their season following a 5-3 loss against the #2 ranked Green Knights of St. Norbert College in the NCHA Peters Cup Semifinals.
The Falcons entered Cornerstone Community Center in Green Bay following an exciting come from behind overtime victory in the first round of the NCHA playoffs against their conference rivals, the Blue Devils of UW- Stout. The Falcons were victorious 4-3, allowing them to advance to face off against the #2 ranked team in the country.
The last time the Falcons and Green Knights faced off was on February 11th at Hunt Arena. St. Norbert was still ranked #2 in the country at the time and was victorious by a score of 3-1. The Green Knights are the only team in the NCHA that the Falcons do not have a winning cumulative record against, with the series going 16-34-2 overall. The Falcons have never won a game at Cornerstone, with a cumulative record of 0-18.
Starting in net for River Falls was the stellar freshman goaltender Scott Lewan (Westland, MI, Alberni Valley, BCHL). Lewan has been the Falcons starter for all but six games when head coach Steve Freeman chose his veteran keeper in Eric Babcook (Centennial, CO, Canmore, AJHL). Prior to the match up, Lewan held a record of 9-9-2 on the season, including recording three shutouts. At goaltender for the Green Knights was senior B.J. O'Brien, who started all but five games this season.
Scoring the first goal of the night in front of the rowdy 1208 fans in attendance at Cornerstone Community Center was Ben Beaudoin (Inver Grove Heights, MN, Southern Minnesota, NAHL) at 13:19 in the first period . Beaudoin's score was his sixth of the season, and he was assisted by Andy Inderieden (Maple Grove, MN, Topeka, NAHL) and Justin Brossman (Littleton, CO, Sioux City, USHL).
St. Norbert was quick to tie the score. At 17:21, Kurt Astle netted his second goal of the season. Astle was assisted by Dylan Exton and Joe Perry.
The Green Knights outshot the Falcons 10-7 in the first period.
The powerful St. Norbert offense kicked it into full gear in the second period. Cody Keefer took the lead for his team with his 11th goal of the season at 1:59, with assists coming from Adam Hammerbeck and Brandon Hoogenboom.
Jeff Burke (New Richmond, Topeka, NAHL) was cited for a costly five minute major penalty for cross checking at 3:29. The Falcon defense nearly killed the penalty, but the Green Knights were able to capitalize on the opportunity at 7:23 on the stick of Kyle Stroh. Johan Ryd and Hoogenboom were awarded assists as the Green Knights extended their lead by two goals.
Falcon team captain Jason Yuel (Winnipeg, MAN, Prince George, BCHL) cut into the scoring deficit at 15:38 with his seventh goal of the season. The score came on a power play opportunity following a hooking penalty on Brandon Longley. Assisting Yuel on the goal were teammates Josh Calleja (New Richmond, Wisconsin, MnJHL) and Alec Hagaman (Peoria, IL, Topeka, NAHL). The point would be the final one tallied in a Falcon uniform by Calleja, the only senior on the roster suited up for the match. The other senior on the young Falcon squad is Nolan Craner (Plainwell, MI, Alpena, NAHL), who's season was cut short due to an injury.
Nick Tabisz scored the third consecutive power play goal of the game at 17:38 to bring the Green Knights back to a two goal lead. The power play opportunity was the result of a slashing call on Yuel. Assisting Tabisz on the goal was Mike Bernardy and Keefer.
Both teams were tied with six shots on goal in the second period.
Stroh tallied his second goal of the night in the opening minute of the third period to give the Green Knights a three goal lead. The score came just 34 seconds into the third, with assists coming from Alain Joanette and Taylor Langford.
Hagaman scored the final Falcon goal of the year at 16:46. The goal was the freshman's 11th, and he was assisted by Geoff Shewmake (Chicago, IL, Bradford, GMHL) and Yuel. The score would also be the final goal of the game, making the final score 5-3. The Falcons were only able to place two shots on goal in the period to St. Norbert's six.
Brossman led the Falcons in both points and goals scored this season with 25. Brossman netted the puck 14 times and earned 11 assists. Calleja was the second leading scorer for River Falls with 23. Calleja made nine goals and 14 assists. Hagaman also proved his offensive prowess this season with 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points on the season.
On top of his three shutouts this season, Lewan made 683 saves while allowing 50 goals for an average of 2.26 goals allowed per game.
The Falcons ended their season with a final record of 12-13-2, going 7-10-1 in NCHA matchups. The Green Knights will be advancing to the NCHA Peters Cup Finals to face off against the Yellowjackets of UW- Superior.
Box Score
Cumulative Season Statistics
