WINONA, Minn. — Boasting a lofty No. 7 ranking in the first USCHO.com Poll, UW-River Falls may have entered Friday's nonconference game against the Saint Mary's University women's hockey team feeling as if they were destined for an easy win.
The Falcons may have got the win — but it was anything but easy.
UW-River Falls scored three unanswered goals, including an empty-netter late in the third period in dealing the Cardinals a 5-2 setback in SMU's home-opener at the Saint Mary's Ice Arena.
The Cardinals definitely didn't make it easy for the Falcons, holding UW-RF at bay for the first 15 minutes of the opening period. Aubrey Nelvin finally finally broke through at 15:16, and Maddie McCollins did the same just a minute later to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
SMU's Taryn Dornseif (Somerset, Wis.) cut the Falcon's lead in half, scoring for the Cardinals with just over two minutes remaining in the period — with assists from
Allie Urlaub (Burnsville, Minn.) and
Kennedy Kraus (Kasson, Minn.) — to set the score 2-1 heading into the first-period intermission.
The Cardinals came out flying to open the second period, and were rewarded for their efforts.
Katie Pierpont (Holt, Mich.) netted her first goal of the season within the first five minutes of the middle frame, off of an assist from
Morgan Leib (Farmington Hills, Mich.), to tie the game at 2-2.
The tie did not last long, however. The Falcons quickly retaliated, with a power-play goal by Alex Hantge three minutes after Pierpont's tally to grab a 3-2 lead. McCollins then grabbed her second goal of the game at 17:08 to extend their lead to 4-2 heading into the third period.
Neither team was able to find the net for over 18 minutes of the third period, and the Cardinals were forced to pull goaltender Jordan Keely (St. Peter, Minn.) for the extra attacker. The Falcons took advantage of the empty net, however, and McCollins nabbed her third goal of the night at 18:59 to secure a 5-2 UWRF victory..
Keely made an impressive 37 saves in goal for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals (0-3-0) will next face off against UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. in Eau Claire, Wis.
