EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The UW-River Falls men's hockey team fell 4-2 Saturday evening at UW-Eau Claire.
The Falcons were in a hole early as a trio of goals by the home team put UWRF down 3-0 13 minutes into regulation.
Dylan Smith scored his first goal as a Falcon late in the first with help from
Arsenii Smekhnov and
Sam Anzai. UWRF weathered the storm in the first as the Blugolds outshot the Falcons 19-7 and led 3-1 through the first stanza.
The middle frame was quiet for the majority of the period before Smith scored again late with under a minute left to cut the UWEC lead to 3-2, where it stood heading into the final period. He was assisted by
Logan Severson.
In the final 20 minutes, UWRF totaled nine shots on target compared to seven from the home team, but couldn't put any more pucks past the Blugolds. UWEC scored an empty-net goal with under a minute left in regulation to seal the win.
UWRF, went 0-for-2 on the power play, and led 45-40 in faceoffs.
Dysen Skinner suffered the loss while making 31 saves.
The Falcons, now 3-5 overall and 0-2 in the WIAC, have a weekend off before returning to action Dec. 2 versus UW-Stevens Point.
