Winona, Minn. (uwrfsports.com) – With another road test, the UW-River Falls men's hockey team took on St. Mary's and gave up four first period goals and eventually fell by a score of 5-3.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Final Score: UWRF 3, St. Mary's 5
Location: Winona, Minnesota
Records: UW-River Falls (0-4-0, 0-0 WIAC), St. Mary's (1-1-2, 0-0 MIAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• At 1:50 in the first period, the Cardinals connected on the first goal of the game. Jay Heinle scored his first goal of the season and was assisted by Nick Albergo and Ryan Charko.
• UWRF would fire the next three shots in the game and 14 out of the next 16 shots, including four during a Falcon power play that did not produce a goal.
• St. Mary's would extend their lead at 10:46 in the first period with a flurry of shots on starting Falcon goalie Alex Okicki. Okicki saved two shots before Bob Kinne snuck the puck around him to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Kinne was assisted by Albergo, it was Kinne's third goal of the season.
• As the goal was scored, Ryan Gotelaere was called for holding, and a power play ensued. Just 45 seconds later, Kelvin Walz beat Okicki on a power play goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 advantage in the first period. The power play goal was assisted by Kyle Meeh and Martin Gruse.
• Facing the largest deficit of the season, and a power play for St. Mary's, the Falcons took a step forward. Joe Drapluk broke away from St. Mary's and scored a short handed goal to cut the lead to 3-1. Drapluk was assisted by Mitch Kontny, it was Drapluk's third goal of the season.
• After a couple of penalties by UWRF, St. Mary's then had a five on three player advantage in the first period at 15:22. Heinle scored his second goal of the game at 16:21 in the first period, giving the Cardinals another three goal lead. He was assisted by Albergo and Taylor Portner.
• Still in the first period, UWRF took advantage of a power play opportunity when Michael Lant scored at 17:42. Lant's first goal of the season was assisted by Joe Drapluk. The first period ended with a total of six goals, and six penalties.
• At the start of the second period, Zach Quinn started in net for the Falcons. His first time in net for UWRF this season, Quinn finished with a total of 16 saves and one goal against him in the third period.
• With the score at 4-2 in the second period, the Falcons were able to pull within one goal when sophomore Eddie Matsushima scored his second goal of the season at 3:09. The assist goin to Hunter Schneider and Blake Anderson.
• UW-River Falls was unable to score another goal the rest of the game with 37 shots after the Matsushima goal and fell by a final score of 5-3.
• Matsushima and Kontny led the Falcons in shots in the game with a total of four. Matsushima also won five of his 11 faceoffs in the game.
• Joe Drapluk had three shots in the game to aid the Falcon offense. He also won eight out of his 17 faceoffs.
• UWRF was 2-3 on their power play during the game and killed five of the seven power plays they faced in the game.

 
THE OPPOSITION

• Aaron Davis played all 60 minutes for St. Mary's. He stopped 28 shots in the game, with 10 coming in the first, and 11 in the second.
• Martin Gruse had a huge night for the Cardinals. Attempting eight shots on the night was a game-high between the two teams.
• Kinne and Heinle each had five shots each on the night. Heinle won 10 of his 18 faceoffs in the game as well.
• In the game, St. Mary's won 37 out of the total 71 faceoffs. The Cardinals were 2-7 on power play opportunities with 12 shots in those seven chances.

 
LOOKING AHEAD
UW-River Falls wraps up their three game road trip with a rematch against College of St. Scholastica on November 8^th at 7 p.m. The Falcons lost in their first matchup this season at River Falls by a score of 2-1. The Falcons next home game will be against Hamline on November 11^th at 7:05 p.m.