Geoff Shewmake and Willie Hess scored goals for the Falcons as they were defeated, 7-2, by UW-Eau Claire in the NCHA Semifinals on Saturday night in Eau Claire, WI.

A fast start for the Blugolds and consistent scoring allowed the NCHA regular season champions to advance to the NCHA Peters Cup final.

The Falcons were outshot in the first two periods, but ended up leading in the final shot tally, 44-41, thanks to a frantic third period.

The Blugolds got on the scoreboard early in the first and added a late period tally as well.

Daniel Olzewski went top shelf at 3:37 to open it up and put the Blugolds up 1-0. Chris Heineman would then score on a floater from the blue line, at 18:02, to put UW-Eau Claire up 2-0 after one period.

The Falcons opened up the scoring in the second period, at 2:14, when Shewmake pounded one home on the power play. Alec Hagaman was credited with the assist that pulled the Falcons back within one.

The Blugolds would then take one back and add another as Mark Pustin scored, at 10:09, and Jack Callahan added a power play tally, at 17:55, to give the Blugolds a 4-1 lead going into the third period.

In the third period, the Falcons shot 22 times, but could only get one past NCHA Player of the Year Brandon Stephenson.

At 7:51, Heineman scored another from the blue line to extend the Blugold lead to 5-1.

Just under six minutes later, at 13:24, Jordan Singer and Mark Pustin broke away and Singer flicked one home to make it 6-1 Blugolds.

Hess would add a late goal for the Falcons, at 14:44, when he put a rebound chance past Stephenson to make it 6-2. Tyler Briola and Blake Huppert were credited with assists.

Singer would add one more for UW-Eau Claire, at 18:38 in the third, to give the Blugolds the 7-2 win.

The Falcons finish the season with an overall record of 13-11-4 and an NCHA record of 5-10-4. The Blugolds improve to 20-4-2 overall and 14-3-1 in the NCHA.

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