River Falls, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin–Stout men's hockey team continued its red-hot stretch on Saturday night, completing a regular-season sweep of UW–River Falls with a 4–2 win and securing its first season sweep of the Falcons since the 2008–09 campaign.
The Blue Devils wasted no time setting the tone. On the opening shift of the game, a turnover in the River Falls zone proved costly as Arhip Sidarovich found Nicolas Pigeon alone in the slot, and Pigeon buried the chance just 41 seconds into the contest to give Stout an early 1–0 lead.
After the quick strike, emotions rose on both benches. The teams exchanged penalties and physical play through the remainder of the opening period, though quality scoring chances were limited. Stout thought it had doubled the lead midway through the first when Maksis Brimanis fired a shot from the half boards that appeared to sneak across the goal line before stopping dead, but officials ruled no goal. Sebastian Monaco was sharp when called upon, including a key kick save on a one-timer late in the period to preserve the one-goal advantage.
River Falls opened the second period with a brief power play and generated some early momentum, but the Blue Devils struck again at 15:38 of the period. Hayden Stocks carried the puck into the zone, showed patience, and picked his spot past the glove of the Falcon goaltender to make it 2–0.
Less than three minutes later, Evan Vanden Heuvel kept the puck in at the blue line and walked down before ripping a shot that produced a rebound. Kullan Daikawa was there to finish it off, pushing the lead to 3–0. Moments later, Stout appeared to add a fourth when a loose puck was poked home at the crease, but for the second time on the night, the goal was waved off.
River Falls responded with back-to-back goals late in the second period, trimming the margin to 3–2 and setting up a tense third period.
The Falcons continued to push in the final frame, ringing a shot off the crossbar and generating several chances from the slot, but Monaco stood tall. With under two minutes remaining, Daikawa appeared to score again on a snipe from the top of the circle, only for the play to be negated due to a too-many-men penalty—marking the third Stout goal waved off on the night.
With River Falls pulling its goaltender in the final minute, the Blue Devils sealed it. A turnover in the Falcons' zone was intercepted by Nicholas Stevens, who fired home the empty-net goal to secure the 4–2 victory and complete the sweep.
The win extends Stout's winning streak to five games and improves the Blue Devils to 9-2-1 on the season, as they continue to jockey for position atop the WIAC standings alongside UW–Eau Claire and eye a return to the national top 15.
By the Numbers
Up Next
UW–Stout returns home on Tuesday night to host Saint Mary's at Fanetti Community Center, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
