RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - UW-River Falls scored 11 goals in the second half to defeat Illinois Tech 14-7 at Ramer Field on Saturday morning. It was only the second-ever home game for the Falcons, and with the win they now improve to 7-5 in their inaugural season. Four goals from Gina Jablonski and a second-half hat trick from Emma Kohlbeck propelled UWRF to the win after a low-scoring first half. 

The scoring got underway quickly when Jablonski found the back of the net under a minute into the game but was answered with a goal from Madison Meredith. Meredith added a second goal off of an assist Alyssa DeLuca only three minutes later to go up 2-1. UWRF evened the score back up at 19:56 as Jablonski scored her second of the day on a setup from Kohlbeck, aided by a man-up advantage that came from a yellow card on the Scarlet Hawks. The game went almost another 13 minutes before DeLuca broke the scoring drought to make it 3-2. The Falcons responded with a textbook run at the goal after Krystal Fischer won the draw control, passing it to Lexy Meinert before she found Cassandra Hubble in the middle for a goal to force a 3-3 score at the break. Ashley Olson was tested in goal throughout the first half, making eight saves compared to only one for Illinois Tech, and the Scarlet Hawks had a 17-5 shot advantage despite the score being even.

The Falcons raced out of the gate in the second half by scoring nine of the next ten goals to go up by as much as 12-4. Sophia Leong had three assists in the second half by setting up Kohlbeck and Jablonski for multiple goals. Jablonski's fourth goal came on a man advantage where she rocketed the ball beneath the goalie to score her 30th goal of the season. Jablonski, Kohlbeck and Leong all are tied for the team lead with nine assists each this year. Leong, Reilly Springman and Cassandra Hubble all had two goals apiece on Saturday, while Nicole Swanson began the run at 28:49 when she scored her fifth goal of the year. UWRF dominanted the stat line in the second half by taking nine more shots, picking up eight more ground balls and committing eight fewer turnovers than the Scarlet Hawks.

Jablonski also led the team on defense by causing a game-high four turnovers. Meredith tied Jablonski with four goals in the game, while DeLuca finished with two goals and a game-high 10 shots. The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday when they host Dubuque at 4 p.m.