The third nationally ranked UW-River Falls men's hockey team tied the ninth nationally ranked Adrian College Bulldogs 1-1 on Saturday evening at Hunt Arena thanks to two terrific goaltending performances from Falcons junior goaltender Tanner Milliron and Bulldogs senior goaltender Scott Shackell.

Saturday night's game had a playoff atmosphere as the two top 10 teams battled for the first time in NCAA history. The goaltending was superb and the pace was fast. Look for this matchup to become a rivalry in the years to come.

Falcons freshman forward Kyle Gattelaro had the best chance of the early portion of the first period as he was beautifully setup by sophomore forward Taylor Burden with a crossing saucer pass in the slot. Gattelaro burned by the defense and nearly redirected the Burden pass between the legs of Shackell (8-0-2). Moments later, the Falcons earned its first power play of the game, in which UWRF had three quality scoring chances but no goals.

Late in the first period, Falcons sophomore forward Danny Hamburg flew down the left boards on a 2-on-1 and was denied by Shackell's glove. The 6'3" Shackell looked tremendous for Adrian in the first period. Hamburg had a similar chance on his next shift but missed the net wide-right on a 3-on-2 slap shot.

Milliron (13-1-1) was also quite good in the first period against the speedy Bulldogs, making an especially good save on freshman forward Mathew Thompson on a 2-on-1 break that nearly beat Milliron five-hole.

The Bulldogs struck first at 17:22 with a goal from sophomore forward Austin Hervey. Hervey was fed in the right slot and quickly slapped it past the screened Milliron. Sophomore defenseman Jake Flegel and senior defenseman Micki Mihailovich assisted on the opening goal. The goal was Hervey's third of the season.

UWRF outshot Adrian 9-8 in the first period. UWRF went 0-1 on the power play. Burden and sophomore forward Cory Lushanko led UWRF with two shots in the first. Falcons junior captain defenseman Alex Murphy spoke to the officials after the first period because of some suspect no-calls.

Falcons sophomore defenseman Matt Wurst and junior forward Mike Williams both missed open nets on the same shift approximately three minutes into the second period. The Falcons had Shackell moving around, leaving the majority of the net open for a Wurst one-timer and a Williams rebound try, but both shots drifted wide.

The Falcons had a 5-on-3 power play for over two minutes midway through the second period and came away empty handed; too many passes with so few shots on goal. The Falcons did get four shots on Shackell during the extended power play but none had much of a chance of getting past him.

Falcons sophomore forward Christian George missed another two open nets on a 4-on-4. Shackell was caught out of his net and George wacked one that was blocked then he missed wide with a backhand. Milliron made a great right pad save late in the second period on Bulldogs senior forward Ryan Lowe who was in on a breakaway and attempted a deke.

The second period ended scoreless and Adrian carried a 1-0 lead into the third. Shots on goal in the second were 9-9. Burden and George led UWRF with three shots through two periods. UWRF went 0-1 on the power play in the second period. Both goalies were tremendous in the second period, proving why they were a combined 21-1-1 coming into the contest.

After a couple of odd bounces, a couple of whacks and a scrum, the Falcons appeared to score at 2:21 to tie the contest at one. The Bulldogs were in disbelief, but the official called it a goal, and he was in perfect position to call it a goal. It took about 10 minutes for the Bulldogs to calm down and the referees to make the call. The tying goal was eventually credited to sophomore forward Mitch Kontny with assists to sophomore defenseman Jeff Bergh and senior captain forward Blake Huppert. The goal was Williams' fifth of the season. Bergh's assist was his team-leading eighth, while Huppert bumped his assist total to six.

The Bulldogs earned its first power play opportunity of the game just over five minutes into the third period. The Falcons pulled Milliron for an extra attacker, thinking the penalty was on Adrian because Huppert was hauled down by a defender but the call was on Huppert for holding; luckily the Bulldogs were unable to shot the puck the length of the ice. On the power play, Gattelaro had a breakaway chance that was easily gloved by Shackell, his best goaltending quality.

George was robbed by Shackell, who made a beautiful sliding shoulder save on yet another 2-on-1 break created by Huppert. Shackell continued to show off with a nice stick save on a streaking Williams with nine minutes left in the third period.

Milliron followed suit with three nice acrobatic saves one minute later. The third was a great blocker stop on Bulldogs leading scorer Kyle Brothers who trailed on a 3-on-2 rush that nearly struck gold. Milliron robbed Brothers again on a late third period power play as Brothers swung off the boards a whipped a wrist shot that Milliron speared with his shoulder. Shackell's glove robbed Hamburg yet again on a late 3-on-2 rush with one minute left in the contest.

Overtime seemed inevitable with Milliron and Shackell in the nets. The third was a very fast paced and pulse-pounding period. Adrian outshot UWRF 14-9 in the third. Adrian went 0-2 on the power play in the third. Four Falcons had three shots through three periods.

The overtime ended scoreless but UWRF had its fair share of chances. The final shots on goal were 31-29 in favor of Adrian. Both teams went 0-2 on the power play. Milliron made 30 saves and Shackell made 28.

UWRF is now 13-1-1 overall and 8-0-1 at home. Adrian is now 11-2-2 overall and 5-0-1 on the road.

The Falcons hit the road next weekend for a two-game series against the UW-Stevens Point Pointers. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday, January 16, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Box Score