St. Thomas scored two power-play goals and that was the difference in a 3-1 win over the Falcon women's hockey team on Wednesday night at Hunt Arena.

The Falcons, ranked No. 8 in this week's USCHO.com poll, played a solid first period outshooting the Tommies, 13-3. The Falcons got the only goal of the period at 17:31 when Alyssa Black scored her ninth goal of the year. Judy Daleiden took a shot from the point that the UST goalie saved, but Black knocked the rebound out of the air and into the net. Alice Cranston also picked up an assist. The Falcons took two minor penalties in the first period, but the Falcon penalty killers allowed just one shot on goal during the short handed time.

St. Thomas scored the only goal of the second period at 2:53 while on the power play. With just two second to go in the Falcon penalty, UST's Korinne O'Connor beat Falcon goalie Ashley Kuechle to the blocker side with a slap shot from 30 feet out. St. Thomas enjoyed a 15-6 advantage in shots in the period, partly due to three Falcon penalties. UST took one minor penalty in the period.

In the third the Tommies added two more goals off rebounds. The first was another power-play goal at 5:44. Morgan Olson scored the goal from right in front of the Falcon goal. At 7:26 the Tommies made it a 3-1 game when Lauren Mumm scored from right in front of the Falcon goal again. The Falcons had a 13-7 advantage in shots in the period.

For the game, St. Thomas finished 2-7 on the power play and the Falcons were 0-2. UWRF had a 32-25 advantage in shots for the game.

"We played a good first period," said Falcon Coach Joe Canston. "But then we were on our heels after that and we didn't play with any urgency. We had to kill off seven penalties and their two power-play goals was the difference. It was one of those nights."

Kuechle made 22 saves and Melissa Deardorff played about 10 minutes in the third period, but did not have to make a save. UST goalie, Alise Riedel, stopped 31 of 32 shots.

The Falcons, now 19-4-2 overall, will be off until they host a NCHA O'Brien Cup first round playoff series at Hunt Arena. Those games will be played on Feb. 24-25. Starting times and the opponent are to be determined.

Box Score