UWRF women’s hockey team unbeaten

• UW-River Falls freshman Alice Cranston

UW-River Falls freshman Alice Cranston steals the puck from a St. Olaf player before skating in to score a shorthanded goal in the Falcon women’s hockey team’s 3-2 overtime victory last Tuesday at Hunt Arena. Cranston, who played her high school hockey with the St. Croix Valley Fusion, leads the fifth-ranked Falcons in scoring this season with six goals. Photo by Bob Burrows

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The fifth-ranked UW-River Falls women’s hockey team needed to go to overtime before posting a 3-2 win over St. Olaf to remain unbeaten last Tuesday at Hunt Arena.

The Falcons took a 2-0 first-period lead but the Oles cut the lead in half 20 seconds into the second period, then tied the score early in the third to force overtime. UWRF’s Darion Bruyere sent the Oles home with a wrister that hit the back of the mesh 2:45 into the extra session and upped the Falcons’ record to 7-0 on the season.

Kait Mason scored the first goal of the game at the 6:54 mark of the first period before River Falls High School graduate Alice Cranston netted her team-leading sixth goal of the season, shorthanded, at the 13:28 mark of the first. Cranston leads the nation in shorthanded goals with three.

Falcon goaltender Melissa Deardorff recorded 21 saves as the Falcons outshot St. Olaf 49-23.

The Falcons will open NCHA play at home this weekend with a two-game series against UW-Superior. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 and 2:05 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.

Tags: sports, hockey, prep, falcons