EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – One night after the UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team handed third-ranked UW-River Falls its first loss of the season, the Falcons found their revenge as they beat the Blugolds 6-1 at Hobbs Ice Center tonight.
The Falcons quickly put the Blugolds in a hole that proved to be too much to overcome. River Falls scored three goals over the first 17 minutes of the opening period to take a 3-0 lead.
Devin Mantha (Jr.-Sturgeon Falls, Ontario/Ann Arbor Pioneer) got the Blugolds back to within two goals as he scored at 18:40 in the first period on a power-play. Jordan Singer (Jr.-Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) and Tyler Romasco (Sr.-Perry, Ohio) assisted on the goal.
In the second period, River Falls quickly answered with a goal at 1:18 and followed with another at 15:19 to make the score 5-1. The Falcons added their final goal of the night at 15:56 in the third period.
The Blugolds had a tough time with penalties as they finished with 11 compared to just four for River Falls. The Falcons also narrowly outshot the Blugolds 35-29.
Brandon Stephenson (Jr.-Saline, Minn.) played all 60 minutes in-goal and stopped 29 shots. He is now 6-5 on the season.
The Blugolds are now 8-6 overall and 4-6 in the NCHA. River Falls improves to 9-1-2 on the season and 5-1-2 in conference play.
Eau Claire will be off for nearly a month now for the winter break. They will next be in action on January 6 when they travel to Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.).
-KM-
