EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - While the UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team jumped out to the initial lead against UW-River Falls, three straight goals by the Falcons was too much for the Blugolds to overcome and they ended up falling 4-2 at Hobbs Ice Center tonight.
Chris Heineman (Fr.-New Boston, Mich./Traverse City Central) got the Blugolds on the board at 5:04 in the first period but River Falls answered just over four minutes later on a power-play.
The game remained tied 1-1 after the initial period, but the Falcons took the lead with a goal at 14:46 in the second period and added another goal at 7:46 in the third.
Down two goals, the Blugolds got back into the game when Andrew Wilcox (Jr.-Rochester, Minn./Century) scored at 12:14 in the third with assists from Kurt Weston (So.-Roseau, Minn.) and Jordan Singer (So.-Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial). Eau Claire fought hard to the end but River Falls added an empty-net goal with only eight seconds to play to secure the 4-2 win.
The Blugolds edged the Falcons 32-29 in shots and Brandon Stephenson (So.-Saline, Mich.) stopped 25 shots in the loss. Stephenson played between the pipes all but the final 54 seconds.
Eau Claire drops to 12-10-1 on the season and 6-9-1 in the conference while River Falls improves to 11-11-1 overall and 7-9-0 in the NCHA.
The Blugolds will play their final regular season home game next Friday when they face St. Scholastica (Minn.). The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.
