University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Highlights

The Falcons won the title in Superior, the site where the 1982-83 team won the NAIA National Championship.

The Falcons beat UW-Stevens Point in the NCAA quarterfinals at Stevens Point, 4-2 and 4-3.

The Falcons fell behind, 1-0, in the semifinals when Fredonia scored just eight seconds into the game. Brandon Ferraro and Brian Wilson scored first periods goals. Russ Johnson and Jeremy Jeannette scored in the third with Jeannette getting the game-winner. Goalie Ron Gullett made 12 saves and the Falcons had a 46-15 advantage in shots on goal.

The Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the title game, but it was a close contest after that. Chris Brown and Ferraro scored power-play goals in the first period. Dan Carney made it a 3-0 game in the second period. Greg Christenson also scored in the second, but UWS scored twice, the second with just 12 seconds to play, before the period was over. Johnson scored in the third and Wilson netted the final goal to secure the win. Gullett made 28 saves and the Falcons had 34 shots on goal.

Russ Johnson led the team in scoring with 12-32-44. Three other Falcons scored over 30 points; Greg Joyce (16-23-39), Brian Wilson (22-16-38) and Greg Christenson (18-16-34). Wilson led the team with nine power-play goals and Joyce led the Falcons with four short-handed goals. Ron Gullett finished 19-7-2 in the nets with a 3.18 goals against average and a .894 saves percentage.

"The credit for this championship has to go to the six seniors who stayed with the program through some tough years; Brandon Ferraro, Chris Borwn, Greg Joyce, Jake Mastel, Jeff Cates and Chris Ratzlof, and the two seniors who joined us later, Ken Eddy and Ron Gullett," coach Dean Talafous said.

Dean Talafous coached at the Div. I level at Alaska-Anchorage from 1996-2001. Chris Brown was the head coach at Marian College and was named head coach at Hamline University in 2004.

1994 NCAA National Champions

Front, left to right: Tom Bachmeier, Ken Eddy, Brandon Ferraro, Jeff Cates, Jake Mastel, Chris Brown, Chris Ratzlof, Greg Joyce, Ron Gullett. Middle, left to right: Steve Freeman, assistant coach, Andre' Beaulieu, assistant coach, Jason Sammon, student trainer, Brad Beedle, Matt Stocker, Jeff Lovell, Aaron Arf, Chad Franckowiak, Par Ostberg, Jason Curry, Mickey Keating, assistant coach, Dean Talafous, head coach. Back, left to right: Dan Carney, Brian Savage, Jeff Hubbart, Chris Ratzlof, Greg Christenson, Scott Bachinski, Jeremy Jeannette, Russ Johnson, Brian Wilson, Eddie MacDonald.

Semifinal Game Result

River Falls 4, Fredonia 3
Saturday, March 18 at Superior, Wis.
Scoring by period
Fredonia 1 0 2-3
River Falls 2 0 2-4
Scoring summary
First period: F Lupu (Pinti), :08. RF Ferraro (Joyce), 9:08. RF Wilson (Lovell, Johnson), 9:40. Second period: No scoring. Third Period: F Lowe (Conley), :53. RF Johnson (Ostberg, Wilson), 2:13. RF Jeannette (Brown, Ostberg), PP, 7:27. F Lupu (McDonald, Pinti), PP, 10:42. Shots on goal: F 15, RF 46. Saves: Sirota (F) 42, Gullett (RF) 12. Penalties: F 5-10, RF 3-6. Power plays: F 1-3, RF 1-5. Att: 1,000.

Championship Game Result

River Falls 6, Superior 4
Saturday, March 19 at Superior, Wis.
Scoring by period
Superior 0 2 2-4
River Falls 2 2 2-6
Scoring summary
First period: RF Brown (MacDonald, Arf), PPG, 16:10. RF Ferraro, PPG, 17:47. Second period: RF Carney (Joyce), 2:51. S Murgatroyd (Graham), PPG, 6:32. RF MacDonald (Christenson, Brown), 11:33. S Shabeck (Graham, Braun), PPG, 19:48. Third period: RF Johnson (Ferraro), 4:44. S Murgatroyd (Shabeck, Komisar), 8:44. S Sobb (Harbinson, Maher), 15:38. RF Wilson (Johnson, Eddy), 17:33. Shots on goal: S 32, RF 34. Saves: Markham (S) 28, Gullett (RF) 28. Penalties: S 5-10, RF 7-14. Power plays: S 2-5, RF 2-3. Att: 2,100

Head coach: Dean Talafous
Assistant coaches: Steve Freeman, Andre' Beaulieu, Mickey Keating