EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Wis.-Eau Claire (16-8-2) fell to UW-River Falls (14-11-1), 4-1, at home, ending their 2025/26 season. Despite outshooting the Falcons with 39 shots on goal, the Blugolds managed just one goal in the second period.
The first period began with a faceoff win for UW-Eau Claire's
Easton Inglis against UW-River Falls' Max Collette. Despite multiple attempts by both teams, neither was able to find the back of the net, with UWEC's
Max Gutjahr and UW-River Falls' Brennan Boynton making key saves to keep the game scoreless. The Blugolds dominated puck possession, winning numerous faceoffs and taking frequent shots, including attempts from
Nolan Grier and
Brent Gulenchyn, while UW-River Falls' defense, highlighted by blocked shots from Dylan Smith and Tyler Waram, managed to keep the home team at bay. The period concluded with a scoreless draw, setting the stage for an intense second period.
UW-River Falls extended its lead in the second period with Keenan Ingram opening the scoring at 17:12 with an even-strength goal, assisted by Tyler Waram. Dylan Smith added another goal for the Falcons at 12:51, assisted by Tyler Lee and Cole Teleki, making it 2-0. The Blugolds responded at 9:57 with an unassisted goal by
Logan Ganz to cut the deficit to 2-1. However, the Falcons widened the gap again with Ben Portner scoring at 3:39, assisted by Keenan Ingram, concluding the period with a 3-1 advantage.
The third period saw numerous attempts by UW-Eau Claire to close the gap, beginning with
Carter Bradley and Ganz testing the Falcons' goaltender Brennan Boynton early on. The Falcons had a power play opportunity at 17:54, but the Blugolds' penalty kill unit held them scoreless. Despite UW-Eau Claire's continued offensive pressure, including a near miss by Grier hitting the pipe at 3:55, UW-River Falls capitalized on an empty net with a goal from Burke Simpson at 1:00, assisted by Reid Lune, sealing the 4-1 victory.
Ganz scored one goal on five shots, contributing offensively for UW-Eau Claire. Inglis excelled in the faceoff circle, winning 16 of 23 faceoffs for a 69 percent success rate.
Max Dronen also impressed on faceoffs, securing 15 wins out of 23 attempts, yielding a 65 percent faceoff percentage. In goal, Gutjahr recorded 25 saves while allowing three goals.
The Blugolds finish the year with a 16-8-2 record.
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