Posted: Feb 16, 2013
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) — Much like Friday night's game, scoring was at a minimum for the UW-Eau Claire and Concordia women's hockey teams. The only difference, this time the Falcons came out on top with a 2-1 win over the Blugolds.
It was the final game of the regular season, and the final home game of the year for the Blugolds (9-12-4, 8-9-3 NCHA). UW-Eau Claire got on the board first at 9:36 of the first period on a goal by Nikki Kothenbeutel (Jr.-Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) with a nice pass from Hadley Cookson (Fr.-Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka).
But that was all the scoring the Blugolds would get. The Falcons (5-17-3, 5-13-2 NCHA) scored at 9:03 of the second period to tie the game up at 1-1. The teams went into the third period tied once again, but this time it was Concordia University that won the final frame.
At 8:27 in the third, the Falcons got one past Paige Turner (Fr.-Iron River, Wis./Duluth East) on a partial breakaway that proved to be the game winner. The Blugolds called a timeout with 1:00 left but could not break the puck out of the defensive zone and did not get Turner off for the extra attacker until only eight seconds remained.
Turner finished with 31 saves, but suffered the tough-luck loss. Both teams were 0-for-2 on the power-play.
With the loss, the Blugolds are the No. 8 seed in the NCHA playoffs starting next weekend. They will play at No. 1 seed UW-River Falls in the quarterfinal round of the NCHA playoffs, with the first game being 7:05 p.m. Friday and the second game being 2:05 p.m. Saturday.
-JM-
