No. 10 Blugolds fall to No. 7 Falcons, 2-1

Photo by Bill Hoepner, UWEC Photo
Photo by Bill Hoepner, UWEC Photo

By Anna Sveiven, UWEC Sports Information

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – In a battle of two teams ranked in the top 10 of the USCHO.com poll, the 10th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team fell to 7th-ranked UW-River Falls 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Hobbs Ice Arena.

Box Score

The Blugolds and Falcons would keep the goalies on their toes, but the Falcons would be the first ones to score in the first period. Eau Claire would continue to put pressure on the Falcon goalie with shots being in favor of the Blugolds, 11 to 7, at the end of the first. However, Eau Claire would go into the second down by one.

Only 20 seconds into the second period, Hanna Zavoral (So. – St. Paul, MN/Highland Park) skated down the length of the ice and fired the puck in the top shelf to tie the game up 1-1.

Erin Connolly (Jr - Mequon, WI/Homestead) would face the attack from the Falcons keeping the game even until Eau Claire would find themselves again down a goal as the Falcons scored at 12:34 into the second. Connolly would come up big with back-to-back breakaway saves with only a few minutes to go.

River Falls would lead in shots 19 to 17 to start the third period. It would be a back a forth battle, but the Blugolds would keep fighting until the end. With no scoring in the third, the Blugolds would fall, 2-1.

The Blugolds (4-2-1) will face off again at home against Saint Mary's University of Minnesota on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Follow the action on Blugold Game Day or on the 'UWEC Blugolds' app on your mobile device.