The Falcons women's hockey team scored four third-period goals to earn a 5-3 win over UW-Eau Claire on Friday night at Hunt Arena.

Each team scored single goals in the first two stanzas before the teams combined for six third-period goals.

"It was just an ugly game tonight," said Falcon Coach Joe Cranston. "But we finished strong which is a good thing. Give a lot of credit to Eau Claire - they play tough defensively and frustrate teams."

The Falcons, ranked No. 8 in the nation, got on the scoreboard at 2:54 of the first period when Kait Mason scored her fifth goal of the year from about 12 feet in front of the UWEC net. Kendal Evenson picked up the lone assist on the play. The Falcons had an 11-8 advantage in shots in the period that had just one penalty called - a minor on the Blugolds.

UWEC tied the game in the second period. Emily Haluska scored from the right hashmark at 12:06. Once again the Falcons had the advantage in shots in the period, 12-8. There were three penalties called in the period with UWEC picking up two.

Eau Clairetook a 2-1 lead at 2:52 of the third period when Emily Larson scored.

The Falcons bounched back to get two goals to take a 3-2 lead. At 5:50 Alyssa Black scored her seventh goal of the year to tie the game. She was assisted by Mason and Alice Cranston.

The teams combined for four goals in the final three minutes of play. UWEC took a minor penalty at 16:25 and the Falcons scored 33 second later. UWRF grabbed the 3-2 lead at 16:58 when Darion Bruyere scored her sixth goal of the season with assists to Katie Batters and Judy Daleiden.

But UWEC fought back to tie the game with 1:45 to play. Haluska scored her second of the game to tie the contest. But just 20 seconds later the Falcons got the lead for good. Emma Nordness scored the goal with an assist to Katie Flanagan. It was the third goal of the year for Nordness. The just 20 seconds later Brook Story put the game out of reach with her third goal of the year. She scored unassisted. UWEC outshot the Falcons in the third, 13-11.

Falcon goalie Melissa Deardorff made 26 saves to raise her record to 8-4. UWEC goalie, Morgan Pieper, stopped 29 shots. The Falcons finished with a 34-29 advantage in shots.

UWRF finished 1-6 on the power play while UWEC was 0-3. The Falcons were called for three minor penalties and the Blugolds were called for six.

The Falcons, now 13-3-1 overall and 11-2 in NCHA play, will play at Eau Claire on Saturday with action starting at 7 p.m. "Tomorrow were going to keep things simple and try to play with confidence," said Cranston.

Box Score