EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The #6 ranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire women's hockey team held their final regular season home game of the year on Saturday afternoon down at Hobbs Ice Arena. A top-10 matchup lived up to the hype as UWEC faced off with #1 ranked UW-River Falls in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) bash. Despite out shooting the Falcons in the first and third periods, Eau Claire fell 4-1 in their final regular season home game.
The opening period saw both teams with prime opportunities as the Blugolds out shot the Falcons 11-8. Despite having the edge in the shot department, UWEC was the first to concede as UWRF found the game's first goal just before the halfway mark of the frame. With a 1-0 deficit, Eau Claire continued to battle but were unable to find an answer as they entered the first intermission down 1-0.
The second period held an early momentum shift as Eau Claire's deficit grew to 2-0 after a Falcon goal in the opening two minutes of the middle frame. UW-Eau Claire garnered some energy back later in the period as they successfully defended two UWRF powerplays to keep the deficit at just 2-0. Before the end of the period, UWEC found themselves with a powerplay of their own, but could not convert before the end of the frame as they went into the second intermission trailing 2-0.
In the third, UWRF doubled their lead in the first eight minutes of play, giving UWEC a 4-0 deficit with just under 12 minutes remaining. As the Blugolds out shot the Falcons in the third, 8-6, UWEC found their only tally of the afternoon at the 15-minute mark as
Taylar Meier (Sr. – River Falls, Wis./Columbine) fired a shot that tipped off the netminder's glove and into the back of the net to cut the UWRF lead to 4-1.
Taylor Holm (So. – Maple Grove, Minn.) earned the lone assist on Eau Claire's only goal of the day as UWEC fell, 4-1.
Alexa Backmann (Fr. – Saint Michael, Minn./Rogers) stopped 19 of the 25 shots she faced in her fourth loss of the season. Backmann is now 11-4-0 on the year.
The Blugolds (19-6-0, WIAC 9-3-0) wrap up their regular season with a 2
nd place finish in the WIAC standings. They will turn their attention to the WIAC Tournament for a chance at the O'Brien Cup. UWEC will host a semifinal matchup with UW-Superior on Friday and Saturday, February 23
rd and 24
th at Hobbs Ice Arena. The two-game series with the Yellowjackets is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. each day.
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