EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The UW-River Falls men's hockey team nearly erased a four-goal deficit before falling 4-3 at UW-Eau Claire Saturday night at UW-Eau Claire.
For the second straight night, the Falcons refused to go away quietly. After rallying from a 3-1 deficit to force overtime Friday, UWRF mounted another late surge Saturday, this time cutting a 4-0 hole down to a single goal before time ran out.
After a scoreless first period, UWEC broke through in the second period and quickly seized control. The Blugolds scored three times in a span of just under seven minutes, starting with a power play goal at 6:19, then adding even-strength tallies at 10:16 and 13:00 to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
The momentum continued early in the third period when Eau Claire struck again on the power play at 5:17, extending the advantage to 4-0, but the Falcons not long after began to push back.
Luke Margenau sparked the comeback at 7:40 of the third, scoring a power play goal off assists from Alex Atwill and Gavin Middendorf to get UWRF on the board. Just 12 seconds later, Owen Belisle followed with an even-strength goal, trimming the deficit to 4-2.
UWRF continued to press and finally pulled within one when Jonny Meiers scored at 16:39 to make it a 4-3 game with more than three minutes remaining. The Falcons had additional chances late, including extended pressure with the net empty, but Eau Claire held on to escape with the one-goal victory.
Shots on goal were tied at 32-32, with Brennan Boynton making 28 saves in net.
The Falcons, now 11-11-1 overall and 5-8 in the WIAC, close out the regular season schedule next weekend with two games at Beloit College, Feb. 13-14 in Janesville, Wis.
