RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The UW-River Falls men's hockey team earned a series sweep over Northland College with a 5-1 win over the Lumberjacks during the regular season finale and Senior Night on Saturday at Hunt Arena.
The Falcons finish the regular season with a 14-10-1 overall record and 8-6-1 WIAC ledger, finishing fourth in the league standings. The Falcons will host UW-Stout next weekend in the first round of the WIAC Tournament.
It was a night of firsts while celebrating Alumni & Senior Night at Hunt Arena, with
Hunter Jones scoring his first and second goals as a Falcon,
Parker Korman scoring the first of his career, and senior
Valentino Passarelli scoring his first of the season on Senior Night. Passarelli and his classmates
Alex Davis,
Jack Craycroft, Aresenii Smekhnov,
Gibb Coady, and
Joey Foss were recognized pregame.
UWRF scored two even strength goals along with one shorthanded and one on the power play, scoring five unanswered goals after the Lumberjacks opened the scoring early in regulation.
Just past the four-minute mark of the first period, Northland opened the scoring, but the Falcons answered 40 seconds later as
Valentino Passarelli scored his first of the season on a 2-on-1 chance feed from linemate
Arsenii Smekhnov. Later in the period, UWRF scored its second shorthanded goal of the season as
Hunter Jones broke past the Lumberjack defense and scored his first as a Falcon, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead after one period.
UWRF increased its lead to 3-1 in the second with
Dylan Smith scoring his 12
th of the season unassisted, causing a Lumberjack turnover and scoring on a breakaway.
The Falcons outshot Northland 14-8 in the final 20 minutes and finished with a 36-22 edge, scoring a couple more goals for extra insurance.
Hunter Jones scored his second of the game on the power play, cleaning up a rebound after an
Alex Davis shot on net. Under a minute later,
Parker Korman scored his first as a Falcon to increase the Falcons' lead to 5-1, where it stood for the rest of the night.
Brennan Boynton made 21 saves while collecting his 14th win of the season.
