RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's hockey team earned a WIAC sweep over UW-Stout, defeating the Blue Devils 5-1 Saturday evening at Hunt Arena.
The Falcons duplicated its goal total from last night to sweep UW-Stout, improving their record to 8-3-1 overall and 4-2 during conference play.
18 total penalties led to a special teams battle, won by the Falcons. UWRF went 1-for-6 on the power play and turned away five Blue Devils power play opportunities.
After a scoreless first 20 minutes,
Noah Roofe scored the Falcons first power play goal since Nov. 6, picking a corner for one of his two goals on the night. Stout quickly answered to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the third.
UWRF exploded for four goals in the third period, outshooting the visitors 17-12.
Just a minute into the third,
Caleb Anderson finished off a behind the back pass from linemate
Gibb Coady, and not long after
Josh Arnold scored his second goal in as many games, slamming home a great pass from
Valentino Passarelli.
Up 3-1 late in regulation, the Falcons got in penalty trouble and the Blue Devils looked to get back in the game, pulling their goalie for an extra attacker. Roofe scored an empty netter though, shorthanded, putting the game out of reach.
For good measure, the Falcons scored again just 20 seconds later, as
Cory Schillo was fed by
Peter Grytdahl for his second tally of the season.
Dean Buchholz was solid in net for UWRF during his fifth start of the season, making 29 saves en route to earning the win.
UW-River Falls returns from its holiday break with a non-conference game on Jan. 6 at Augsburg University.
