UW-Stout 5, UW-River Falls 2
RIVER FALLS (February 21, 2020) – UW-Stout scored four goals by two different players in the first period and went on to a 5-2 win over UW-River Falls in the first game of the first round of the WIAC Championship, presented by Culver's, at Hunt Arena, Friday.
The fourth seeded Falcons' (15-8-3) Sam Anzai put River Falls on the board first, scoring at 3:41 of the first period, but UW-Stout's (8-17-1) onslaught would begin three minutes later when freshman
Noah Carson scored at 6:52, his second goal of the season. Only 22 seconds later, Carson scored his third goal of the season to give Stout a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Devils struck again twice in the waning minutes of the period when
Raphael Gosselin scored two goals, his first coming at 15:26 and less than two minutes later on the power play at 17:15 Gosselin scored his eighth goal of the season – and his fourth power play goal - to give Stout a 4-1 lead at the first intermission.
The Falcons, the conference's leading power play team, cut the lead in half on the power play when Ryan Cusin scored at 4:08 of the second period and the teams went into the second break with Stout leading 4-2.
There was no scoring again until
Logan Nelson put the game on ice for the Blue Devils at 17:28 on a breakaway.
Brennan Kitchen picked up the win for the Blue Devils with 22 saves. Zach Quinn also recorded 22 saves for the Falcons. Stout was 1 for 3 on the power play, while River Falls was 1 for 5.
The teams will meet again Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:05 p.m. If the Falcons record a win, they will force a mini-game to determine which team will advance to the second round.
