Men's Hockey | 1/30/2015 6:49:00 PM
Box Score Tanner Milliron played spectacular recording 33 saves as the UW-River Falls Falcons edged out the UW-Supior Yellowjackets 3-1 in front of the biggest crowd Hunt Arena has seen this season.
"It was good to get back in the win column," said Falcon Coach
Steve Freeman. "We certainly did not play a perfect game but we had a solid third period."
The first period was clean and fast paced with no penalties and just one late goal.
Tanner Milliron got off to a hot start in the net with some big early saves including one with 12 minutes to go in the period where he slid across the net to knock away a one timer which kept the game tied. The Yellowjackets got off seven shots on goal before the Falcons got their first.
At 17:25 of the first period UWRF got on the board when
Mike Dietrich connected with
Mike Williams who scored off a backhand for his third goal of the season. The assist gave Dietrich six on the season.
Mike Fazio also made an assist on the goal for his fifth of the season.
The Falcons finished with six shots in the period while Milliron saved all eight Yellowjacket shots on net.
UWRF went on the first power play of the game came at 9:17 but were not able to take advantage. As soon as UWS went back on full strength they had a scoring opportunity right in front of the net but Milliron was able to dive and knock it away with his stick. At 13:43 coincidental minors were assessed to both teams making for two minutes of four on four hockey but again nothing came of the penalties.
With just over three minutes left in the period UWS had another great chance to tie the game up off a rebound but Milliron was able to corral the puck. The Falcons headed to the second intermission still up 1-0 after putting nine on net and giving up 12 shots to the Yellowjackets.
UWS went on their first power play of the game at 2:06. They almost gave up a short handed goal when Lushanko went on the breakaway but Bryce Fink made a great save as the Yellowjackets proceeded to take the puck into the Falcons zone with Cody Hotchkin tying the game up on the power play goal from the slot.
Both teams had chances right after to take the lead but the tie finally broke at 9:38 when Lushanko made a nice pass from behind the net where
Alex Murphy buried the puck into the net from a bit inside the blue line on the right side for his sixth of the year. AJ Jarosz also recorded an assist on the goal for his fourth of the year while Lushanko now has five.
At 12:54 the Yellowjackets went back on the power play but the Falcons defense stayed strong led by
Christian George who made some big diving blocks. With just 12 seconds left on the power play another Falcons penalty gave UWS a two skater advantage. UWRF killed off both penalties. With just 2:15 left to go in the third period coincidental minors were assessed making four on four hockey for almost the rest of the period.
"We did alot
of things well like blocking shots and we got good goaltending tonight," Freeman said. UWS pulled their goalie with 1:05 left and UWRF scored an empty netter when Gattelaro scored from just inside the center line off assists from
Michael Lant and George. Gattelaro has nine goals this season and leads all Falcons with 16 points. Lant now has three assists on the season and George has five.
The Falcons ripped 10 shots on goal in the third period while the Yellowjackets had 14.
UWRF finished with 25 shots on goal in the game while going 0-1 on the power play. Milliron finished with 33 saves to improve to 15-4-1 on the season. UWS finished with 34 shots on goal while going 1-2 on the power play. Fink finished with 22 saves and is now 1-4 while UWS drops to 7-13 after the loss and are still searching for their first WIAC victory.
UWRF is now 15-4-1 on the season and will face off against UWS again tomorrow evening out at Hunt Arena with the drop of the puck set for 7:05 p.m.
"One of my concerns this year has been our sluggish play on Friday nights," Freeman said. "We did not have alot
of jump but we worked things out and got the win."Box Score
