Women's Hockey | 3/20/2015 10:20:00 AM

Box Score

Photo Gallery (Photos by Kathy Helgeson)

Kendal Evenson scored with 2:19 to play to lift the Falcon women's hockey team to a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Norwich University in the NCAA Championships third place game played Saturday afternoon in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The Falcons finished third in the country for the second straight year and end the 2015 season with a 26-4-1 record.

"We came out a little slow and we weren't moving our feet," said a happy Falcon Coach Joe Cranston after the game. "But once we got going we played very well."

UWRF jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the Cadets scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead. The Falcons responded with great play the rest of the game to get the win.

The first period was evenly played as both teams scored goals. Norwich held a slight, 7-6, advantage in shots on goal. The Falcons grabbed an early lead and Norwich tied the game about six minutes later.

Carly Moran walked in from the right boards and beat Norwich goalie, Laurie King, with a backhand low on the glove side at 3:39. It was her 15th goal of the season and keeps her as one of the top scorers of the 2014-15 season national freshmen class. Dani Sibley (22nd) and Karleigh Wolkerstorfer (15th) picked up the assists. A couple of minutes later the Falcons took a minor penalty but the Falcon penalty kill units allowed just one shot on goal.

Norwich tied the game at 9:12 with a deflection goal by Erin Joyce. The shot originated from the point and Joyce got her stick on the puck to deflect it past Falcon goalie Angie Hall. It was Joyce's 12th goal of the year.

Norwich took a penalty with 1:29 to play in the period and UWRF put some good pressure on but failed to score.

The Cadets scored twice in the second period to take the lead. Norwich took a 2-1 lead at 5:10 when Rachel Bellio scored off a 2-1 break. She tipped the centering pass up high over Hall's shoulder to put her team ahead. The Cadets went ahead by a 3-1 score when Kaycie Anderson scored from about 15 feet to Hall's right. A blocked shot went right to Anderson who was able to control the puck and score at 6:47.

Emily Stark got the Falcons back to within 3-2 at 11:21 with a goal from about 60 feet out. Stark shot the puck and two Cadet defenders provided a screen and the shot was able to beat Cadet goalie Loren Carrier who replaced King a couple of minutes earlier. The Falcons put some great pressure on for the next few minutes but could not get the equalizer.

A big moment came when UWRF took a five-minute major penalty at 13:49 giving the Cadets a long power play. But the Falcon penalty kill units did another outstanding job and held the Cadets off the scoreboard. Hall made three saves during the penalty kill to keep the Falcons within one.

"We really had the momentum and then we had to kill off the major penalty," said Cranston. "Once we kill it off we were all over them."

Norwich held a 12-10 advantage in shots during the period - helped by the five-minute power play.

Amy Auran tied the game at 11:26 of the third period with a great play. She picked up a loose puck at the blue line, drove in and beat the Cadet goalie from in close. It was her second goal of the season and was unassisted.

The Falcons went on a power play at 13:37 when the Cadets took a minor penalty for tripping. The Falcons kept the puck in the Norwich zone for most of the opportunity and had one shot on goal during the player advantage.

Evenson drove home the game winner at 17:21 with a slap shot from the point. The puck made it through a mass of players in front of the net. Moran and Dani Sibley picked up the assists. It was Evenson's third goal of the year while Moran picked up her 19th assist and Sibley her 23rd.

Norwich pulled its goalie with 1:06 to play but the Cadets did not have a shot on goal despite the advantage. The Falcons had a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal in the third period and for the game the Falcons outshot the Cadets, 23-21.

Hall finished the game with 18 saves and she ended the year with a 23-4-1 record. Hall's 22 season wins sets a Falcon record. The two Cadet goalies combined for 19 saves.

Both teams had three penalties - the big difference was the Falcons had two minors and one major. Both teams were 0-2 on the power play.

Falcon defenseman Paige Johnson was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. "Paige was just a dominant player in the tourney," said Cranston. She is just the second Falcon to win that award. Chloe Kinsel was named to the team in 2014.

Box Score