Issued: January 31, 2004

WOMEN'S STRONG FIRST PERIOD NOT ENOUGH

RIVER FALLS - The UW-Eau Claire women's hockey team held first period leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but allowed three unanswered goals after the first period en route to a 5-2 loss to Northern Collegiate Hockey Association opponent UW-River Falls here tonight at Hunt Arena.

The Blugolds fall to 7-10-2 for the season and 2-8-0 in NCHA play while the Falcons improve to 11-8-1 overall and 7-4-1 in conference action.

Eau Claire got on the board first at the 5:54 mark of the first period when Karen Hebert (Fr.-Lakeville, MN/Academy of the Holy Angels) scored right in front of the crease to put the Blugolds up 1-0. Laura Suppes (Fr.-Falcon Heights, MN) earned the assist on the goal. The Falcons answered the goal from Hebert shortly after as Rachel Goodwin scored to knot the game at one at the 7:21 mark.

Eau Claire again took a one-goal lead with 6:30 left to play in the first period when Allison Campbell (Fr.-Plymouth, MN/Wayzata) scored from almost the exact same spot on the ice as Hebert, giving Eau Claire a 2-1 advantage. The power play goal was assisted by Amanda Schultz (So.-Stevens Point/SPASH). The Falcons scored with just 40 seconds remaining in the first period to tie the game 2-2 heading into the second period.

River Falls took control of the game after the intermission, holding a 30-11 shot advantage over the Blugolds and scoring three unanswered goals the rest of the way to take a 5-2 conference victory. The Falcons scored the game-winner just 3:12 into the second period while on a five-on-three power play.

Eau Claire will look to bounce back next Friday and Saturday when they host a pair of NCHA games against UW-Stevens Point. Both games are set to begin at 7:05 p.m. at Hobbs Ice Arena.

Eau Claire-River Falls Box