RIVER FALLS, Wis. — UW-Eau Claire (5-4-1, 3-1-0) fell to UW-River Falls (6-4-0, 2-2-0), 5–2, at Hunt Arena. The Blugolds were unable to catch the Flacons offense despite two late 1st period goals to answer the Falcons early 3-0 lead.
The first period began with UW-River Falls taking an early lead as Luke Margenau scored at 1:22, assisted by Ben Portner and Alex Atwill. Ethan Lindahl extended the lead to 2–0 with a goal at 9:23, set up by Dylan Smith and Reid Lune. UW-River Falls capitalized on a power play at 6:07 when Dylan Smith scored, assisted by Jonny Meiers and Cole Teleki, to make it 3–0. The Blugolds responded with a goal from
Nolan Grier at 5:58 and another by
Connor Thompson at 3:42, cutting the deficit to 3–2 by the end of the period.
Keenan Ingram extended the Falcons' lead to 4–2 with a goal at 14:39, assisted by Zach Sondreal and Margenau. Despite generating several opportunities, UWEC's attempts were consistently thwarted by Brennan Boynton, who made multiple saves throughout the period. The visiting team was unable to capitalize on a power play opportunity after Hunter Jones was penalized for boarding at 13:31.
Max Gutjahr, in goal for the Blugolds, also contributed with key saves, but the period ended without additional scoring from the visitors.
The Falcons extended their lead early in the third period when Max Collette scored at 19:11, assisted by Meiers and Gavin Middendorf, making it 5–2. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire responded with a flurry of activity, controlling faceoffs and generating multiple shots on goal, but Boynton consistently denied their attempts. Both teams incurred roughing penalties at 5:39, but neither could capitalize during the ensuing play. Despite another power play opportunity for UW-Eau Claire in the final minute, the Falcons maintained their three-goal advantage to secure the win.
Grier scored one goal and added three assists, contributing to a total of seven shots.
Leo Bacallao achieved a perfect faceoff percentage, winning two faceoffs without a loss.
Max Ruoho assisted on two goals and finished with three shots. Thompson also scored a goal and maintained a 70% success rate in the faceoff circle, winning 12 of 17 faceoffs.
The Blugolds hold a 5-4-1 overall record and are 3-1-0 in conference play following the recent matchup. The Falcons stand at 6-4-0 overall with a 2-2-0 mark in conference competition.
Follow the Blugolds all season long at
Blugolds.com or on our app,
Blugold Sports, and on social media on
Twitter,
Instagram, and
Facebook.
