Men's Hockey | 1/24/2015 6:55:00 PM
Box Score The UW-River Falls Falcons fell 4-3 in an exciting back and forth game to the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds in front of a 508 person crowd out at Hunt Arena.
The physical play from the night before when UWEC won 5-2 carried over into the first period with both teams landing some big hits. The Blugolds went on the first power play of the game at 6:05 but the Falcons defense and
Tanner Milliron stayed strong and killed it off. The Falcons went on their first power play at 9:37 but had it killed off by UWEC.
At 16:57 UWRF scored when
Ryan Doner split two defenders and fired a cross ice pass over to
Cory Lushanko who went top shelf for the goal. The assist gave Doner nine on the season while the goal was Lushanko's fourth. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after the first period putting 16 shots on goal with Milliron stopping seven Blugold shots.
It only took 19 seconds into the second period for coincidental minors to be assessed making for two minutes of four on four hockey. At 1:36 the Blugolds scored a goal during the four on four play when they put a goal in as Patrick Moore scored from the right slot putting it high and left of Milliron who could not get his stick over in time to make the save. Right after the goal another Falcon penalty put UWEC on the power play. Just 25 seconds after that penalty, UWEC committed one of their own making for 18 seconds of three on three hockey.
UWRF had a great opportunity to score when
Christian George was in perfect position for a one time but UWEC goalie Jay Deo was saved by the post. As soon as both teams were back on full strength a Blugold penalty at 4:05 put the Falcons back on the power play but yet again UWEC killed it off.
AJ Jarosz picked a perfect time to score his first goal of the season when he put a move from the right side of the rink to the center of the face off circles and lit the lamp at 6:28 assisted by Mike WIlliams who picked up his fourth assist of the season on the play.
A Falcon penalty at 9:36 put the Blugolds on another power play which they scored 11 seconds into when David Henry found the back of the net. The penalties continued to pour in when UWRF went on another power play at 11:19.
Terry Leabo,
Alex Murphy and
Blake Huppert each fired in one timers but none found the back of the net on the power play as UWEC killed it off.
At 17:53 UWEC came rushing into the net and even though no goal came it a Falcon penalty was called giving them another power play chance. UWRF did a great job of clearing the puck out of their zone killing the penalty and headed into the third period tied 2-2 after putting just six shots on goal and only giving up six shots to UWEC.
After a slow start to the first period the Bludgolds took the lead at 6:08 when Jack Callahan ripped a shot from between the blue line and right faceoff circle. Just over a minute later the Falcons had a chance to answer when Deo went on his back but was able to make the save to keep his team in the lead. On the following face off UWEC took the puck into the Falcon zone and scored on a rebound opportunity in front of the net with Moore recording his second goal of the evening.
The Falcons were not going to go away without a fight when Gattelaro, George and Leabo went tic-tac-doe for the goal to pull within one at 15:04. The goal was Leabo's third of the season with George picking up his fourth assist and Gattalor recorded his seventh. With just 1:45 left in the game Deo came slidng across the net to make a big save that kept UWEC up by one.
The Falcons had a couple more chances as Huppert hit a shot off the pipe and with just one minute left in the game UWEC commited a five minute major giving UWRF six on four hockey with a pulled goalie but despite keeping it in the Blugold zone they could not come up with the game tying goal.
The Falcons finished with 12 shots in the third period, 34 in the game while going 0-5 on the power play. The Blugolds had six shots on net in the period, 19 in the game and went 1-4 on the power play. Milliron finished with 15 saves while Deo finished with 31 of his own.
UWRF drops to 14-4-1 overall on the season and 3-3 in the WIAC. They will be at home again next weekend, Jan. 30-31, in a series against UW-Superior with the drop of the puck set for 7:05 p.m. both nights.
Box Score
