RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The No. 4 seeded UW-River Falls men's hockey opened the first round of the 2025 WIAC Tournament/Commissioner's Cup, presented by Culver's, Friday evening at Hunt Arena with a 4-1 win against No. 5 seed UW-Stout.
The Falcons, trailing by a goal after one period, scored four unanswered to take a 1-0 series lead, led by two goals each from
Dylan Smith and
Tyler Lee.
Jonny Meiers finished with three assists.
Through 20 minutes of play UW-Stout held a 1-0 lead, with the Blue Devils' Jake McAlpine scoring just over three minutes into regulation as he found Boyd Stahlbaum found Jake McAlpine open in the slot for a goal.
UWRF scored three goals in the middle frame, tying the game just under four minutes in with Smith's first of two goals, assisted by Lee and Meiers. The trio combined for another goal minutes later to give the Falcons their first lead of the night. Late in the period, Lee scored on the rush to put the home team up by two heading into the third period.
In the third period, the Falcons held strong, killing off a pair of Blue Devil power plays to hold the visitors scoreless for another 20 minutes. Late in regulation, the Blue Devils pulled goaltender Ryan Knight for a 6-on-4 opportunity following a Falcon penalty. Just as the penalty expired, an Ethan Lindahl clear ended up on the tape of Lee as he exited the penalty box and converted an empty net goal to seal the win.
Brennan Boynton made 30 saves in net to earn his 15th win of the season.
The Falcons, now 15-10-1 overall, and Blue Devils play again tomorrow night to close out the two-game series. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. at Hunt Arena.
