RIVER FALLS, Wis. — The Saint Mary's men's hockey team (7-7-1) saw its final nonconference game of the season slip away Saturday night, falling 6–4 to UW-River Falls (8-8-1). The Cardinals converted twice on the power play and made a late push in the third period, but a Falcons scoring surge, capped by an empty-net goal, proved too much to overcome.

Tyler Lafferty played a key role offensively, dishing out three assists to help spark Saint Mary's attack. Reid Watson recorded the first goal of his collegiate career and added an assist, going perfect in the faceoff circle. 

Saint Mary's came out strong, winning the opening faceoff and striking first on the power play. Watson buried his milestone goal at the 8:26 mark of the first period, with assists from Colin Tushie and Lafferty, to give the Cardinals an early edge. River Falls answered quickly, however, as Jonny Meiers scored twice in the period to swing the lead back to the Falcons, who took a 2–1 advantage into the first intermission.

The Falcons extended their lead early in the second, but the Cardinals responded with another power-play tally. Arias connected at 14:44 off one touch feeds from Paden Hicks and Joona Juntunen to pull Saint Mary's within one. 

Despite sustained pressure the rest of the period, the Cardinals went into the second break trailing 3–2.

Saint Mary's made things interesting late in the third down three. 

Newpower trimmed the deficit to two with a goal at 5:53, set up by Lafferty and Tushie. Just over three minutes later, Tommy Wright scored his first goal of the season to make it a one-goal game, with Lafferty and Watson picking up the assists.

The comeback bid came up short, though, as River Falls sealed the outcome with an empty-net goal in the closing moments, handing Saint Mary's a 6–4 setback.

The Cardinals will now focus on conference play as they look to host Saint John's on Thursday, Jan. 22 for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop.