BLAINE, Minn. — The UW-River Falls men's hockey team showed resilience Friday evening, battling back from a four-goal deficit but eventually falling 5-3 at the Schwan's Super Rink at the National Sports Center.
The Falcons, now 6-8 overall, found themselves trailing 4-0 midway through the second period, but responded with three goals to pull within one before a late Bethel tally sealed the outcome.
Bethel opened the scoring late in the first period and then capitalized early in the second, scoring three goals in a 9:31 stretch to take control of the game.
UWRF stopped the momentum late in the second period. With 46 seconds remaining, Dylan Smith put the Falcons on the board at even strength, finishing a play set up by Burke Simpson and Cole Teleki to make it a 4-1 game heading into the intermission.
The Falcons carried that momentum into the third period and struck twice on the power play. Gavin Middendorf cut the deficit to two at 3:58, scoring with help from Ben Portner and Alex Atwill. Just over seven minutes later, Keenan Ingram brought UWRF within one, scoring on the man advantage off passes from Luke Margenau and Atwill.
UWRF continued to press over the final minutes and had additional power-play chances, but Bethel answered with an even-strength goal at 18:05 to halt the comeback.
Smith, Middendorf, and Ingram each scored for the Falcons, while Atwill recorded a pair of assists. UW-River Falls finished 2-for-7 on the power play and held a 24-21 edge in shots on goal.
Sophomore goaltender Nolan LaCosse made his first career start and recorded 25 saves in net for the Falcons.
UWRF has another non-conference game at the College of St. Scholastica tomorrow evening in Duluth, Minn. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Lakeview Arena.
