University of St. Thomas Athletics
8-7-2
UW-River Falls
15-3-1
Women's hockey can't overcome early deficit, falls 6-3
1/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – After trailing 4-0 after the first period, the St. Thomas women's hockey team came back to outscore No. 7 UW-River Falls 3-2 over the final two periods, but the early deficit proved to be too much for the Tommies, who fell by the final score of 6-3 to the Falcons on Wednesday night at St. Thomas Ice Arena. With the loss, St. Thomas drops to 8-7-2 on the year, while UW-River Falls improves to 15-3-1.
The Falcons wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the early going. Just 3:23 into the game, Chloe Kinsel scored her first of three goals on the evening to give UWRF the early 1-0 lead.
Brianna Breiland followed with an unassisted goal a minute and a half later to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead with barely over five minutes gone.
UW-River Falls added two more goals in the final five minutes of the period thanks to Dani Sibley and Kinsel again to build a 4-0 lead headed to the first intermission. The deficit proved to be insurmountable for the Tommies, who did not score until the third period.
After Kinsel made it 5-0 in the second period with a power play goal, St. Thomas got on the scoreboard at 12:08 of the third when senior Tara Baago scored a shorthanded goal to cut the lead to 5-1.
The Falcons answered with a goal less than a minute later, but the Tommies came right back to score at 13:46 of the final frame. Junior Megan Juricko took advantage of a power play chance to score her third goal of the year. Baago and Courtney Umland were credited with assists on the goal, which brought the score to 6-2.
Sophomore Paige Healy followed with what would prove to be the final goal of the night at the 15:10 mark. Healy scored her first goal of the season thanks to an assist from Allison Borgstrom to cut the deficit to 6-3, which is where it would stay for the remainder of the evening.
Despite the three-goal difference, the Tommies outshot the Falcons by the final count of 28-27, thanks in large part to a 13-6 advantage in the third period. Both teams were successful on the power play as well. UW-River Falls converted at a 50-percent clip (2-for-4), while St. Thomas converted on 33-percent (1-for-3).
Tommie goaltender Taylor Neisen was given the loss after allowing five goals and making 16 saves in 40 minutes of play. Angie Hall made 25 saves in the win.
UST will head back in to conference play on Friday night, when it travels to Ed Saugestad Arena to take on Augsburg College. That game is set for a 7:00 p.m., start. The two teams will meet for a second time on Saturday afternoon at St. Thomas Ice Arena to complete the home-and-home series.
