RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The top-seeded and No. 1-ranked UW-River Falls women's hockey team defeated No. 2 seed UW-Eau Claire 4-1 Saturday afternoon at Hunt Arena during the 2025 WIAC O'Brien Cup Tournament Championship game.
The O'Brien Cup crown is UWRF's sixth in a row and 10th overall in program history.
Four different Falcons found the back of the net and after a 1-1 first period, UWRF scored three unanswered goals to seal the win.
In the opening frame,
Katherine Bell and the Falcons took the first lead as she scored off the rush nine and a half minutes in with assists from her linemates
Kailey Niccum and
Madison Lavergne. UWEC answered at 15:45 with a breakaway goal from Jana Lesch.
UWRF extended its lead to 3-1 in the second period with goals from
Megan Goodreau and
MaKenna Aure. Nine minutes in,
Kaitlyn Ronn set up a drop pass after a zone entry for Goodreau to snipe a wrist shot in the slot past Blugold netminder Alexa Backmann. About six minutes later, an Aure shot from the point on the power play increased the Falcons' lead to two goals heading into the third period.
The home team held the Blugolds to just six shots on net in the final 20 minutes while gaining a three-goal advantage. Just under the seven-minute mark,
Kailey Niccum converted on a nice centering feed from
Madison Lavergne - who totaled two assists.
Jordan O'Kane made 22 saves in net during her sixth consecutive start, collecting her 16th win.
The Falcons, now 23-3-2 overall, will await an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament selection show can be viewed on
NCAA.com tomorrow evening, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. (central time).
