RIVER FALLS, Wis.-(uwrfsports.com) – The UW-River Falls women's hockey team hosted game 2 of their WIAC Playoff series with UW-Eau Claire on Saturday afternoon at Hunt Arena.  The Falcons only needed a win or a tie to advance to the WIAC Championship next weekend after winning on Friday night.  The Falcons got a hat trick from Dani Sibley and would tie the Blugolds 3-3, to advance.
 
The Falcons came out flying in the first period on Saturday against the Blugolds.  The Falcons took the lead 1:17 into the first period on Dani Sibley's 17^th goal of the season.  Sibley took a pass from Karleigh Wolkerstorfer and raced into the offensive in and stuffed a shot past the Eau Claire netminder. 
 
The Falcons dominated the next 13 minutes of the period.  The Falcons generated numerous great scoring chances, including Carly Moran's point blank shot that bounced off the goalie, then the crossbar and somehow stayed out of the net.   The Falcons would hit another post just minutes later, and looked to pounce on the rebound and somehow the Eau Claire goalie covered the puck and kept it out of the net.  The best chance of the period came when Chloe Kinsel and Carly Moran came in on 2 on 0 break, but Kinsel could not get the puck past the Eau Claire goalie.
 
The Blugolds would tie the game at the 14:55 mark of the period when Mariah Czech let a shot go from inside the circle and beat Angie Hall.  
 
The Blugolds would continue to pressure after the goal and would strike to take the lead at the 16:46 mark of the period.  Holly Turnbull would take a shot from the point and it appeared to hit something in front and beat Angie Hall over her shoulder. 
 
The Falcons would pressure the rest of the period, but could not tie up the game before the end of the first period.  The Falcons trailed 2-1 after 1, but out shot the Blugolds 14-7. 
 
The second period began much like the first period ended with the Falcons controlling most of the play. The Falcons once again generated some great scoring chances early, but could not get the puck past the Eau Claire netminder. 
 
The sustained pressure by the Falcons finally paid off at the 9:14 mark of the period when Eau Claire was called for slashing.  On the ensuing power play, the Falcons would generate a few quality scoring chances but were unable to tie the game at 2. 
 
The Falcon power play would be cut short at the 10:45 when Lydia Wagner was called for checking.  The Falcons would kill the ensuing Blugold power play off, not allowing the Blugolds to get any sustained pressure or quality scoring chances.
 
The Blugolds would strike at the 16:54 mark of the period, to go up by 2, 3-1.  Ashley Baugher took the puck behind the Falcon net and pushed it past Angie Hall.
 
The Falcons would dominate the rest of the period, but could not pull within 1.  The Falcons out shot the Blugolds for a second straight period 13-4.
 
The Falcons came out in the third period on a mission to get back into the game. The Falcons dominated the first 5 minutes of the period, keeping the Blugolds in their own end and firing shots at the Eau Claire netminder.  The sustained pressure would payoff for the Falcons at the 5:03 mark of the period when the Blugolds were called for the first of consecutive penalties.
 
The Falcons would go on the power play and set things up early, peppering the Eau Claire goaltender who was up to the challenge.  44 seconds into the power play Eau Claire's Jaedyn Walz was called for checking and the Falcons would go on a 2 man advantage for the next 1:16. 
 
The Falcons set up a couple of great looking chances on the 5 on 3.  Chloe Kinsel got a cross ice pass from Amy Auran and looked to pull the Falcons within in 1, but Kim VanBrunt dove across the crease and made a spectacular save keeping the Falcons off the board.  The Falcons would continue to fire shots at the net and VanBrunt, kept making great saves.  The Falcons would be unable to find the back of the net on the power play.
 
After the power play both teams settled in to more of a defensive battle, with Eau Claire content to just dump the puck and keep the Falcons from getting into the offensive end with any regularity. 
 
At the 14:39 mark of the period Emily Stark was called for checking and sent the Blugolds to a late power play.  The Falcon penalty killers once again looked to go on the offensive and generated the better scoring chances on the Blugold power play.  The Falcons killed off the penalty, but were still down 2 goals with less than 4 minutes to play in the game.
 
Late in the game Dani Sibley simply took over for the Falcons, just when it looked like they were heading to a decisive mini game. Dani's first of two consecutive goals in a 36 second span, came with 2:11 seconds left in the period, when she roofed a shot top shelf over the Eau Claire goalie, to pull the Falcons within 1.  The goal was Dani's second of the game, but she was not done. 
 
Dani Sibley would get her hat trick 36 seconds later when she fired a shot to the back of the net.  The goal tied the game at 3 with 1:35 left in the game.  The Falcons would have a couple of opportunities late in the period to avoid overtime, but could not break the tie as the game was headed into overtime.  The Falcons out shot the Blugolds in the third period 20-1. 
 
The overtime started the same way the rest of the game had, with the Falcons sustaining pressure in the offensive end and making Eau Claire's goalie make a couple of huge saves early. 
 
At the 2:47 mark of overtime, Karleigh Wolkerstorfer was called for slashing.  The Falcons had to kill off the penalty or play in a mini game to decide the series.  The Falcon penalty killers did a great job of keeping the puck away from their goal, not allowing a single shot to get to Angie Hall, and blocking 5 shots. 
 
After the power play the Falcons would put more pressure late in overtime on the Blugolds, generating a couple more quality scoring chances but they could not get the game winner.  The game ended in a 3-3 tie, but with the win on Friday night, the Falcons won the series and advance to the WIAC Championship game.
 
The Falcons would end up out shooting the Blugolds 47-12. Angie Hall recorded 9 saves to get the victory and Dani Sibley scored her 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th goals of the season to lead the Falcons. 
 
The Falcons are back in action next Saturday when they host the WIAC Championship game at Hunt Arena.