The No. 4 seeded UW-River Falls women's hockey team heads to No. 3 seed UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, March 8 to compete for the WIAC O'Brien Cup Tournament Championship/Commissioner's Cup.

UW-RIVER FALLS (17-11-1) AT UW-EAU CLAIRE (13-15-1)
Date: Saturday, March 8
Time: 7 p.m. 
Site: Eau Claire, Wis. // Hobbs Ice Arena

TICKET INFORMATION

• Doors open at 6 p.m. CASH ONLY. First come, first serve. No purchase limit. 
• General Seating: Adult: $10, Senior (65+): $8, Student (17 & under): $6
• General Tickets available at the front gate only.
• Reserved Section (Center Ice): Adult: $12, Senior (65+): $9, Student (17 & under): $7
• Reserved Tickets available at the front gate only.
• All WIAC Students get in free with ID.

2025 WIAC TOURNAMENT

• The Falcons are making their third appearance in the WIAC Tournament Championship game and first since 2016. 
• UWRF finished with 26 points in the 2024-25 WIAC standings with an 8-6-1 league record, receiving the No. 4 seed for the postseason tournament.
  • Since the inception of the WIAC Commissioner's Cup in 2014, the Falcons hold an 11-19-3 playoff record, coming off a WIAC Semifinal series win over UW-Superior.
  • UWRF won the Commissioner's Cup in 2015, advancing to the championship game with wins over UW-Eau Claire in the semifinals, and defeating UW-Stevens Point 3-1 in the title game.
  • The Falcons are seeking their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. 

AGAINST THE BLUGOLDS

• Saturday's game will mark the 169th all-time meeting between UW-River Falls and UW-Eau Claire, with the Falcons leading the series 101-60-8.
• UWEC won two of the three regular season games, most recently a 7-5 Blugold win on Feb. 8 in River Falls.
• In WIAC Tournament history, the Falcons and Blugolds have faced each other six time, with UWEC winning five.
  • UWRF and UWEC last faced each other during the 2022 WIAC O'Brien Cup Semifinals, with the Blugolds prevailing by scores of 3-2 (OT) and 3-1.

FALCON NOTES

• The Falcons received 16 votes in the latest USCHO Division III national rankings.
• UWRF is coming off a WIAC Tournament Semifinal series victory over top-seeded and nationally ranked UW-Superior, falling 4-1 in game one before winning game two 2-1, and the mini-game 2-1 to advance to the WIAC Championship.
  • Arsenii Smekhnov and Alex Atwill scored Falcon goals in the 2-1 win to force the mini-game, and Cole Teleki's game-winner in the mini-game sent the Falcons to the title game.
  • Through two games, Brennan Boynton made 60 saves with a .923 save percentage. He added 18 more saves in the mini-game.
• UWRF has scored 10 power play goals in the last nine games, including Alex Atwill's game-winning power play goal on Saturday night at UW-Superior. UWRF's 23.2% power play ranks second in the WIAC.
• The Falcons have averaged 3.2 goals per game this season for a total of 92, the program's most since the 2009-10 season in which UWRF totaled 103 goals. The duo of Jonny Meiers and Dylan Smith have paced the UWRF offense with 15 goals each, tied for second most in the WIAC.
• Cole Teleki is the top scoring defenseman in the WIAC with 18 points off six goals and 12 assists. In addition, he leads the league with 65 blocked shots.
• Goaltender Brennan Boynton has started in all 29 games, leading the WIAC with 25.6 saves per game along with the second best save percentage at .915. Against UW-Stout in the first round of the conference tournament, he allowed just one goal in two games with a .985 save percentage.