EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team came out ready to play and did just that, as it tied in overtime with the No. 8 UW-River Falls Falcons 2-2 Saturday night at Hobbs Ice Center.

It was all about the goalies tonight.  Mara Stormer (Jr. – Waunakee, Wis.) was a brick wall for the Blugolds having 38 saves on the night.  She gave up two goals in the first period to Falcon leading scorer Katie Batters, who is also tied for second in NCHA for goals, but after that she kept the strong offense of the Falcons quiet.  For the Falcons, Ashley Kuechle was strong with 35 saves.

Team captain Allison Malecek (Jr. – Maple Plain, Minn./Delano) got things going tonight as she scored the first goal of the night at 4:07 in the first period.  The Blugolds would maintain their 1-0 lead up until 8:02 when Batters got her first goal of the night.  Dani Kerr (Jr. – Little Canada, Minn./Roseville) found the back of the net at 14:06 on a rebounded shot from Toni Simones (Sr.-Rosemount, Minn./South St. Paul) and Nikki Kothenbeutel (So.-Sauk Rapids, Minn/Sauk Rapids-Rice) to again put the Blugolds up by one with a score of 2-1.  The Falcons did not let that last long as Batters got her second goal at 19:60 to tie it back up 2-2.

The rest of the game would be scoreless for both teams.  Each team had opportunities, but neither was able to capitalize.  The Blugolds came close in the first few seconds of overtime but missed on an open shot.  The Falcons also had a missed opportunity in overtime when the Blugolds were penalized for too many players on the ice and we forced to a player down.

On the night the Falcons outshot the Blugolds 37-36.   

Next weekend, the Blugolds travel to Concordia-Wisconsin for a weekend double header.  Games get started at 7 p.m. Friday night. 

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