Four goal first period lifts Blue Devils past Falcons

MENOMONIE (December 9, 2023) - In the last matchup of the regular season versus UW-River Falls (6-5-0, 3-4-0 WIAC), the Blue Devils scored four goals in the first period to lead the way to a 7-4 win. 

The Falcons received a penalty for game protocol violation and UW-Stout (5-6-1, 3-4-0 WIAC) would start the game on a power play. During the power play, Stout's Matt Dahlseide scored to get the Blue Devils on the scoreboard only 1:23 into the game. The goal was assisted by Peyton Hart. 

For the first five minutes into the game, Stout out shot the Falcons 6-0. 

At 6:07 into the first period, River Falls went on their first power play. The Falcons rattled off four shots, but the penalty was killed by the Blue Devils. 

Stout found the back of the net at 8:40 when Jake McAlpine beat Buchholz to make the game 2-0. The goal was assisted by Noe Perez and Dylan Rallis. 

Only 15 seconds later, the Blue Devil's Charles Massey scored his first goal of the year to get Stout a three goal lead. Assists were awarded to Jacob Halvorson and Dahlseide. 

At 15:58, Stout went on their third power play. The Blue Devils scored during the power play at 17:19. The goal was scored by Boyd Stahlbaum with assists from Nicolas Pigeon and Perez to make the game 4-0. 

River Falls went on a power play at 19:32 of the period and would start the second period on a power play. On the power play, the Falcon's Dylan Smith scored at 1:02 of the period with assists from Alex Davis and Burke Simpson. 

At 8:06 of the second period, Stout's Sam Kroon scored his first collegiate goal to get the Blue Devils a 5-1 lead. The goal was assisted by Dahlseide and Hart. 

At 9:44 of the period, River Falls scored their second goal when Smith beat Green. The goal was assisted by Josh Martin. During the goal, a penalty was assessed to the Blue Devils. 

During the River Falls power play, Dylan Smith scored his third goal of the game and period to make the game 5-3 at 11:38 of the second period. The goal was assisted by Simpson and Jonny Meiers. 

At the end of two periods, Stout was outshooting the Falcons 25-13. 

In the third period, the Blue Devils scored at 4:30 when Peyton Hart beat Skinner. The sixth goal was assisted by McCabe Dvorak to hold a three goal lead. 

At 16:42 of the period, River Falls scored to make the game 6-4. Noah Roofe scored the goal with an assist from Arsenii Smekhnov. 

At 17:40 of the period, River Falls took their goalie off to skate one man up. But at 18:44, Blue Devil's Alex Stuckert scored his first goal of the season to make the final 7-4. The goal was assisted by Hart. 

Blue Devil's Dawson Green got the win stopping 20 shots. Falcon's Dean Buchholz started the game and stopped 8 shots. Dysen Skinner relieved Buchholz and stopped 18 shots. 

Up next for the Blue Devils is a non-conference matchup against Milwaukee School of Engineering on January 3, 2024 with a puck drop at 7:00 p.m. in Menomonie, Wisconsin.