UW-River Falls 4, UW-Stout 3 (OT) |
UW-River Falls 2, UW-Stout 0 (mini-game) |
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MENOMONIE (February 19, 2011) - Shades of deja vu.
For the second consecutive year, UW-Stout's season came to an end in a 20-minute mini-game of the quarterfinals of the NCHA Peters Cup.
Last season, the Blue Devils lost out to UW-Stevens Point.
Saturday night, UW-River Falls came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Stout, 4-3, in overtime in the regularly scheduled game, then carried the momentum into the mini-game with a 2-0 win. River Falls will travel to St. Norbert for the semi-finals, Saturday, Feb. 26.
In the opener, Stout (16-11-0) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first period goals by Kevin O'Donnell (Fr, Stoughton) and
Robert Carr (Sr, Roseau, Minn). Carr's goal was shorthanded.
But the Falcons (12-13-2) shot back in quick fashion in the second period when Justin Brossman scoredon the power play at 16:26 and moments later, Geoff Shewmaker scored at 16:54.
The remainder of the second period and nearly the entire third period was scoreless until Stout was called for a late penalty with just under two minutes left in the game.
But it would be the Blue Devils who would benefit shorthanded when
Robert Carr scored his second shorthanded goal of the contest.
The Falcons had an answer. After pulling goalie Scott Lewan, the Falcons attacked with the extra attacker and Josh Calleja scored with only seconds left on the clock to force overtime. River Falls got the game winner with 29 seconds left in the overtime period on a goal by Sean Roadhouse to set up the 20 minute mini-game.
The mini-game is nothing more than a way to break a tie in a tournament series. The win or loss does not count, nor do the individual statistics. But the game will decide who advances or whose season is over.
River Falls, the sixth seed in the tournament, lived to see another day when Martin Sundstedt scored at 13:39. The Blue Devils, the tournament's third seed, had opportunities to score, but either drew air or drew pipe. The Falcons sealed the game on an empty net goal by Brossman with 49 seconds left.
In the regular game, Lewan took the win by making 29 saves, while
Nick Hopper (So, Culver City, Calif) absorbed the loss with 40 saves.
