Blue Devil's comeback falls short as Falcons win 3-2

UW-River Falls 3, UW-Stout 2

MENOMONIE (December 14, 2019) - UW-Stout was looking to win their third WIAC game in a row, but UW-River Falls scored three goals in the first eight minutes of the game to take a commanding lead. UW-Stout (3-8-1, 3-3-0) added a goal late in the second period and scored with 14:11 left to play in the game to make it a one goal game, but River Falls held them to no goals down the stretch to win 3-2.

It didn't take long for UW-River Falls (6-4-2, 2-3-1) to open the scoring. The Blue Devils turned the puck over at their blue line as they were shifting lines and the Falcon's Trey Bagwell took advantage. Bagwell scored his first goal of the year and River Falls took a 1-0 only 2:34 into the game. 

River Falls took the momentum and used it as they scored only 30 seconds after their first goal. Cory Schillo beat Kitchen and the Falcons took a quick 2-0 lead into the game. 

At 6:24 of the game, the Blue Devils took a penalty and the Falcons went on their first power play. River Falls holds a 31.8 power play percentage and increased their percentage as Peter Karavos scored a power play goal to make it a three goal game. 

In the first period, the Falcons out shot the Blue Devils 18-8. 

In the second period, the Blue Devils looked to get on the board and change the momentum. But Stout didn't help themselves out as the Blue Devils took a five minute major at 4:51 of the second period. But Stout held their ground and killed the five minutes to go back to skating five on five. 

Stout was looking to get on the board to make it a two goal game and find some momentum in the game. After a couple big hits by the Blue Devils, the momentum started shifting. At 18:06 into the period, Stout went on a power play. With only 48 seconds left in the period, the Blue Devils took advantage of the power play and got on the board. Stout's Raphael Gosselin beat Quinn on the goal and the game was now 3-1. Adam Kresl assisted on the power play goal. 

Shots through two periods was still in favor of the Falcons, 25-14. 

In the third period, the Blue Devils found themselves down two goals and had a chance to get within one with a power play at 2:15 of the period. But River Falls killed the penalty and both teams were skating five on five. 

At 5:49 of the period, Hunter Anderson found the puck and ripped a shot in front of the net to beat Quinn to make the game 3-2. Vladislov Sorokin and Alex Stuckert both assisted on the play and the Blue Devils had gained the momentum. In the first 10 minutes of the period, Stout was outshooting the Falcons 9-3. 

River Falls went onto the power play at 12:11 and 15:04 of the period, but the Blue Devils killed both penalties off. 

With only 1:25 left in the game, Stout found themselves with a power play chance to tie the game up. After a timeout, Kitchen was pulled to gain an extra attacker. With chances to score, the Blue Devils fell short and the Falcons won the game 3-2. 

Brennan Kitchen finished the game with 29 saves. Falcon's Zach Quinn had 26 saves and got the win. 

Up next for the Blue Devils is an away non-conference game against Bethel University on January 10. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Stout will be back home on January 11 as they take on Hamline University.