Blue Devil comeback against UW-River Falls falls short

UW-River Falls 4, UW-Stout 3 (Box Score) | Photo Gallery | Archived Video

MENOMONIE (February 4, 2016) - UW-Stout took an early lead, fell behind, then rallied, but their comeback fell just short as the Blue Devils came up just short to UW-River Falls, 4-3, Thursday at the Fanetti Community Center.

The Blue Devils (9-9-5, 1-4-1 WIAC), in their final regular season home game, struck early when freshman Joe Kleven (Shakopee, Minn) took assists from Joe Anderson (Fr, Side Lake, Minn) and Jake Useldinger (East Grand Forks, Minn) at the 3:12 mark of the first period.

Stout doubled the score midway through the period when Shayne McLaughlin (Jr, Eau Claire) scored, with assists from Justin Moody (Jr, Grand Forks, ND) and Karl Andersen (Jr, River Falls).

The Falcons (14-5-3, 4-1-0 WIAC) would score the next four goals of the game, including two in the first period to tie the game. Zach Schorenboer scored at the 13 minute mark and Ryan Doner scored at 17:30 for the tie

The visitors took the lead five minutes into the second period when Doner scored his second goal of the night. Schorenboer gave the Falcons a two goal lead, taking advantage of a five minute major at 18:38.

Stout pulled to within a goal late in the third period when Gavin Smith (Fr, Savage, Minn) scored, on assists from Craig Lindegard (Jr, Hallock, Minn) and Mathias Ahman (Fr, Harnasand, Sweden) at the 15:27 mark.

Two minutes later, River Falls was called for hooking, giving the Blue Devils a one man advantage. Stout pulled their goalie with 70 seconds remaining, but could not put the puck in the back of the net.

Spencer Viele (Jr, Wildwood, Mo) took the loss for the Blue Devils, recording 26 saves, while Tanner Milliron recorded 28 saves for the Falcons.

The Blue Devils will conclude the regular season next week when they travel to UW-Stevens Point, Friday, Feb. 12 and to UW-River Falls, Saturday, Feb. 13.

The Blue Devils will need to win at least one of the two games, and UW-Superior will have to lose all of their remaining games for the Blue Devils to secure a first round WIAC home berth. The Yellowjackets leap frogged over the Blue Devils Friday, Feb. 5, when they ran over River Falls, 5-2, pushing Stout into fifth place.