Falcons to host O’Brien Cup finals March 2-3

• Morgan Pieper and Alyssa Jackson

UW-Eau Claire goaltender Morgan Pieper, and UW-River Falls’ Alyssa Jackson (15) and Emma Nordness (7) keep their eyes on the floating puck during a scramble in front of the net in the second period of the Falcons’ 3-0 win over the Blugolds in the second game of an NCHA quarterfinal series Saturday at Hunt Arena. Bob Burrows photo

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The top-seeded UW-River Falls women’s hockey team swept No. 6 UW-Eau Claire, 5-0 and 3-0, over the weekend and will host the NCHA O’Brien Cup semifinals and finals this Friday and Saturday at Hunt Arena.

Second-seeded UW-Superior will face third-seed Adrian College in the first semifinal at 3:05 p.m. Friday, while the Falcons will take on No. 4 seed Lake Forest at 7:05 p.m. The winners will meet Saturday at 4:05 p.m. for the O’Brien Cup Championship and the NCHA’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

In last Friday’s quarterfinal series opener against the Blugolds, Katie Flanagan scored twice and River Falls High School graduate Alice Cranston had a goal and an assist as the Falcons skated to a 5-0 victory.

Kait Mason and Katie Batters added a goal apiece while goaltender Melissa Deardorff stopped all 12 shots she faced.

Saturday, Deardorff made 21 saves while Emma Nordness, Alyssa Jackson and Batters each scored a goal in a 3-0 Falcon victory.

Tags: sports, proam, falcons, hockey