By Riley Schmidt, UWEC Sports Information
RIVER FALLS, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team took the ice for their first Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Semifinal game on Friday afternoon and fell 4-1 to the No. 1 seed University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
The first goal of the afternoon was by the Falcons at 10:01 after Jessie Andersen rushed past the Blugold defense and found the back of the net. This set the momentum going for the rest of the period and the Falcons snuck an unassisted, shorthanded goal past Eau Claire at 17:46.
It was time for a Blugold goal as Kelsey Rafferty (So.-De Pere, Wis.) skated her way past the River Falls defense at 18:32, setting the final score of the first period at 2-1 in favor of the Falcons.
Eau Claire was still in high spirits in the second period and was neck and neck with River Falls on shots until the Falcons' Amy Auran shot the puck across the crease to put another tally on the board at 19:19 in the second, leaving the score after the second period 3-1.
River Falls got a power-play goal by the end of the third period at 9:32, notching the final score of this afternoon's game at 4-1.
Paige Turner (Sr.- Iron River, Wis./Duluth East) was in goal for the UW-Eau Claire and tallied 32 saves.
Eau Claire will have another chance to face off against River Falls Saturday afternoon at 3:05 in River Falls.
