ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 1-ranked UW-River Falls women's hockey team erased an early deficit and led the remainder of the game, scoring six unanswered goals to earn a 6-1 road victory over St. Catherine on Wednesday night in St. Paul, Minn.
After St. Catherine struck late in the opening period, the Falcons took control in the second, erupting for five goals in the middle frame to break the game open.
River Falls evened the score at 5:20 of the second period when
Kailey Niccum finished an even-strength chance, assisted by
Katherine Bell and
Madison Kadrlik. Just over a minute later,
Megan Goodreau buried a power-play goal, her team-leading 15th of the season, to give the Falcons the lead for good. The goal, assisted by
Sophia Hess and
Alexa Niccum, stood as the game-winner.
The Falcons continued applying pressure as
Alexa Niccum scored at even strength midway through the period before River Falls capitalized on a power play twice more.
MaKenna Aure struck at 13:50, followed by
Sophia Hess less than a minute later, pushing the Falcons' lead to 5-1 before the second intermission.
River Falls capped the scoring early in the third period when
Madison Lavergne finished an even-strength goal at the 5:17 mark, assisted by
Kylie Jones and
Makenna Kadrlik, to make it 6-1.
The Falcons finished the night 3-for-4 on the power play and outshot St. Catherine 34-18, while also winning the faceoff battle 36-29.
In goal,
Jordan O'Kane earned the win, stopping 12 shots over 45:17 of action.
Olivia Hansen closed out the final 14:43, turning aside all five shots she faced to preserve the victory.
With the win, UW-River Falls improves to 12-1-0 overall as they travel this weekend for a top 10 matchup against Gustavus Adolphus, Saturday Jan 10. Puck drop at 2 p.m., in St. Peters, Minn.
