Box Score

The UW-River Falls men's hockey team finished a shocking comeback, defeating the UW-Stout Blue Devils, 3-2, in overtime thanks to an incredible Christian George hat-trick.
 
The Falcons entered and exited the game in first place in the WIAC. They control their own destiny: win out and win the conference. Tonight's dramatic overtime victory is all the more shocking due to the fact that UW-River Falls crushed the Blue Devils 9-3 last night.
 
George's third and final goal came with 1:36 left in the extra frame, after he found a loose puck to the right of Blue Devils sophomore goaltender Corey Koop (6-14). He walked around a defenseman and roofed a wrist shot in the top right corner of the net. An incredible to finish an incredible game for the freshman center. Not only did George complete the hat-trick but he was also great in the defensive zone, blocking multiple Blue Devil shots.
 
The Falcons opened the game a little flat-footed, but a good shift from sophomore forward Zach Schrotenboer, freshman center Mike Fazio and sophomore forward Mike Williams brought some much needed momentum into the offensive zone. Senior goaltender Scott Lewan (9-4) had to make a couple key saves on an early Blue Devils power play opportunity. Lewan also made a very nifty glove save on junior forward Zach Vierling with 12 minutes left in the first; Vierling scored on an identical wraparound chance last night.
 
Two first period power plays generated a lot of UW-River Falls scoring chances, but the Falcons could not seem to get the puck through traffic or sophomore goaltender Corey Koop (6-13).
 
First period shots on goal were 7-7. Overall, the first period went exactly how the Blue Devils wanted; neither team had a large number of quality scoring opportunities and both goalies were not required to be overly sharp. Junior forward Blake Huppert led the Falcons with two shots on goal in the first. The Falcons had seven of their 18 shot attempts get blocked by the UW-Stout defense.
 
Schrotenboer had two early second period opportunities that just would not go. His first shot hit the right post, and the second shot hit Koop in the shoulder and bounced into the crease, but was cleared in the nick-of-time. Freshman forward Ryan Doner followed the two chances with a golden opportunity in the slot, but Koop made his best save of the night with his catching glove.
 
Lewan made his best save of the second period on a slap-shot from the point by sophomore defenseman Danny Ray on a mid-period power play. Ray's shot was an absolute blast, but Lewan caught the flying rubber.
 
Koop, who allowed five of the nine goals last night, made a surprisingly quick glove save on senior defenseman Jeff Burke, and followed that up with a point-blank pad stop on Schrotenboer, and then again on freshman center Mitch Kontny. Koop and the UW-Stout defense looked like a team reborn, in comparison to the nine goal drubbing on Friday evening.
 
The Falcon power play's kept coming, the scoring chances kept coming, but the puck was avoiding the back of the net, thanks in large part to Koop's solid play.
 
George may have made the defensive play of the night when he blocked a Blue Devil wrist shot with his chest on a late second period penalty kill. George made the block while on his knees on the edge of the crease, and wacked the puck away from a Blue Devil forward following the block. He skated off under his own power, but appeared to be in a lot of pain.
 
Second period shots on goal were 9-7, in favor of UW-River Falls. Koop was sensational in the second period, stopping all 10 shots in dramatic fashion. Lewan, meanwhile, was quietly making each save look easier than the last. Burke and Schrotenboer led the Falcons with three shots each through two.
 
George opened the third period with a very good backhand chance, but Koop made the stomach save. Koop could not find the puck after the initial shot because it was logged in his gear. Williams and Fazio followed the George chance with back-to-back scoring opportunities that Koop ate up. UW-River Falls opened the third in a completely different gear than the previous two periods. The Falcons opened the period with five straight shots on Koop.
 
Vierling made the Falcons pay for not scoring on their opportunities as he fired the first goal of the game over Lewan's left shoulder on a power play at 3:32 of the third period. Vierling's ninth goal of the season was assisted by senior forward Kevin O'Donnell.
 
George answered the call at 4:33, scoring a power play goal of his own on a rebound in the right slot. Last night's heroes Blake Huppert and Schrotenboer assisted the goal. George's quick snap-shot beat Koop low glove side, finally giving the Falcon fans something to cheer about. George's extra-strength goal was his fourth on the year. Huppert's assist was his 10th, and Schrotenboer's helper was his eighth.
 
Koop was extremely sharp on a mid-third period Falcons power play, making five saves in a row look elementary. Both teams, especially UW-River Falls, were finally beginning to play with a sense of urgency. The Falcons had just as many shots in the first 11 minutes of the third period as they did in the opening 40.
 
Blue Devils freshman forward Craig Lindegard scored the go-ahead goal with 6:13 left in the third period on a rebound opportunity. Lewan made a handful of difficult saves before Lindegard smacked the puck into the cage. Senior forward Casey Kirley and Ray were credited with assists on the goal. The goal was Lindegard's fifth.
 
With the hopes of a conference championship seemingly slipping away by the minute, George scored his second goal of the evening on another Koop rebound. With an extra attacker on the ice for UW-River Falls, the Falcons fired the puck at Koop and George slipped the puck between the legs of Koop for his fifth of the season. The goal was scored at 18:52, and assisted by senior captain Jon Schreiner, his fifth of the year.
 
George's overtime goal was his sixth tally of the season. It was assisted by Hagaman, his eighth, and Huppert, his 11th.
 
UW-River Falls improved to 14-6-3 overall, 7-3 in the WIAC and 6-2-3 at home. UW-Stout falls to 7-16 overall, 3-7 in the WIAC and 3-7 on the road.
 
The Falcons are 3-0 against UW-Stout this season, and 69-21-1 all-time. Two of the three games were won in overtime.
 
The Falcons take on the UW-Stevens Point Pointers in a pivotal WIAC matchup next Thursday at 7 p.m. in Stevens Point, Wis.

Box Score