The seventh nationally ranked UW-River Falls women's hockey team tied the ninth nationally ranked UW-Stevens Point Pointers 2-2 on Saturday afternoon in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, despite outshooting the Pointers 34-14.
UWRF remains first in the WIAC rankings, despite the road tie. The Falcons outshot the Pointers 3-0 in overtime but couldn't slip the puck past Pointers senior goaltender Janna Beilke-Skoug (11-6-2). A road win and tie against a top 10 opponent is good, but the Falcons could easily have swept the Pointers.
"We played a pretty solid game today," said Falcon Coach
Joe Cranston. "We outplayed them, but ran into a good goalie. We hit three pipes in the second period and just couldn't get the puck to go in. I'm happy with our effort this weekend."
Falcons senior defenseman
Sam Greeley scored the game's first goal on the game's first shot just 56 seconds into the contest to give UWRF a quick 1-0 lead. Greeley's second goal of the season and eighth of her career was unassisted.
Junior defenseman Betsy Anderson answered Greeley's opening goal with a tying tally for the Pointers at 5:22 of the first period on the power play. Anderson's third goal of the season, and second on the power play, was unassisted.
Stevens Point wasn't done as the Pointers jumped ahead 2-1 at 9:46 of the first period with a goal from junior forward and leading scorer Emily Lester. Lester's 12th goal of the season was assisted by sophomore forward Meredith Ingbretson and junior forward Kat Nejedlo. The Pointers scored twice on its first four shots on Falcons freshman goaltender
Angie Hall (11-3-1).
The Falcons outshot Stevens Point 12-5 in the first period, but the Pointers carried a 2-1 lead into the second period. UWRF went 0-1 on the power play in the first. Greeley led UWRF with three shots through one period. The Falcons opened the second period with 1:23 left on its second power play.
Deja vu in Stevens Point: the Falcons tied the game at two just 56 seconds into the second period as sophomore forward
Brianna Breiland slammed home her third goal of the season on a power play. Breiland's second power play goal of the season was assisted by junior forward
Chloe Kinsel and senior captain forward
Alice Cranston. Kinsel now has a team-leading 18 assists, while Cranston bumped her total to 13. Much like Greeley's opening tally, Breiland's goal came on the Falcons' first shot of the period.
Greeley rang a shot off the post midway through a second period power play looking for her second goal of the game, soon after a 10-minute game misconduct on Pointers freshman forward Ali Biagini. The Pointers didn't get a shot on Hall until nearly 16 minutes into the second period.
UWRF outshot Stevens Point 9-2 in the second period. UWRF went 1-3 on the power play in the second. Breiland led UWRF with four shots through two periods. The Falcons failed to score on a five-minute power play midway through the period, and only hit the net twice during the major penalty.
The third period was scoreless as UWRF outshot Stevens Point 10-7. Both teams went 0-1 on the power play in the period. Falcons sophomore forward
Dani Sibley led UWRF with six shots on goal through three periods.
Finals shots on goal were 34-14 in favor of UWRF. The Falcons went 1-5 on the power play, while Stevens Point finished 1-2. Greeley and Sibley led UWRF with six shots on goal. Hall made 12 saves, while Beilke-Skoug stopped 31.
UWRF is now 14-3-1 overall, 6-1-1 in the WIAC and 6-1-1 on the road, snapping a five-game winning streak. Stevens Point is now 12-6-2 overall, 3-3-2 in the WIAC, and 7-1-1 at home. UWRF is now 22-23-6 all-time against the Pointers.
The Falcons take on the University of St. Thomas Tommies at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. UWRF defeated St. Thomas 6-4 on Nov. 1, in the opening game of the season.
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