UWS Ladies Fall

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

It was a special night at Wessman Arena Saturday night. The Yellowjacket women’s hockey team was not only hosting UW-River Falls, one of the best teams in the country, but it was “Stick it to Cancer” night. The Yellowjackets, wearing special breast cancer themed jerseys were looking to earn the victory over the Falcons and keep pace with the top teams in the WIAC.

They got off to a great start, but they couldn’t keep it going. River Falls pulled away, scoring three times in the second period on its way to a 4-1 victory over the Yellowjackets.

The Yellowjackets came out hot and midway through the period opened the scoring. Lynne Larson (Blumenort, Manitoba) did the honors, finishing off a set up from Mikayla Goodin (Andover, Minn./Andover)g and Dani Schultz (Morris, Minn./Morris Area) to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 lead at 10:59 of the first period.

The goal seemed to wake up the Falcons, however, and they quickly began to assert themselves and tied the score. Just 4:14 after the Yellowjackets scored River Falls tied the game, with Brianna Breiland scoring on a power play to tie the game 1-1.

River Falls owned the edge in shots on goal in the period 16-9, but the teams were tied heading to the locker room.

Early in the second period the Falcons exploded, scoring three goals in a span of four minutes, 49 seconds to blow the game open.

Alice Cranston scored the eventual game-winning goal at 5:40 of the period to make it 2-1. At 7:06 Carly Moran scored on a power play to push the lead to two goals. Then at 10:29 Dani Sibley scored, and just like that River Falls had opened up a 4-1 lead. River Falls peppered the Yellowjackets in the second period, outshooting Superior 18-8 in the frame and enjoying a 34-17 edge through two periods.

Following the second period Yellowjacket Head Coach Dan Laughlin made a goaltending change, pulling starter Kim Kobar (The Pas, Manitoba/Margaret Barbour Collegiate) and replacing her with Sky Brown (Lenore, Manitoba/Virden Collegiate Institute). Kobar made 30 saves through 40 minutes. Brown wasn’t as busy in the third, stopping all eight shots that came her way.

In the third the Yellowjackets turned up the pressure, putting 12 shots on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net and they ended up in the loss column at home.

Breiland, Moran and Sibley paced the Falcons offensively. Each finished the night with a goal and an assist. Angie Hall got the win in goal for River Falls, finishing the night with 28 saves.

River Falls took four penalties for eight minutes, while the Yellowjackets were whistled seven times for 14 minutes. River Falls went 2-for-5 on the power play while the Yellowjackets were scoreless in their two attempts.

The Yellowjackets (14-7-0, 4-5-0 WIAC) will have a week off and will be in action next Saturday, February 7, when they travel to W.H. Hunt Arena for a rematch with UW-River Falls. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.

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