RIVER FALLS, Wis. - After dropping a 3-1 loss to conference rival and seventh ranked UW-Stout, the 14th-ranked UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team lost to UW-River Falls tonight 2-1.

The Blugolds, who drop into seventh place in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, fall to 3-7-1 in conference play and 13-8-1 overall. The Falcons, who are 4-7-0 in the NCHA, improve to 10-11-1 on the season after winning last night against UW-Stevens Point 4-3. In the all-time series against the Falcons, the Blugolds drop to 28-79-3 after beating the Falcons earlier this season 6-1 at home.

After a scoreless first period, the Blugolds and Falcons continued to keep the game scoreless until River Falls' Derek Hansberry scored an unassisted goal at 15:39 in the second period to give them the single goal lead.

In the third period, the Blugolds struck back at 3:42 when Joe Bluhm (Jr.-Red Wing, Minn.) received the assist from John Kearns (So.-Chicago, Ill./Maine South) to score a goal during a power-play and tie the game. The Falcons put the final nail in the Blugold coffin when River Falls' Andrew Harrison scored at 18:56 and give the Falcons a 2-1 win.

The Blugolds nearly doubled the Falcons in shooting 42-22 after being outshot the by the Blue Devils last night 39-37.

Tyler Brigl (Jr.-Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) picked up the win between the pipes for the Blugolds, recording 20 saves on the night and playing 59:35. The Falcons' Stephen Ritter added another win to his record and ended up with 41 saves.

The Blugolds will head to Superior next Friday to take on UW-Superior. The puck is set to drop at 7 p.m.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box Score

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