Falcon skaters split vs. MIAC foes

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Falcons Jordan McIntyre (12) and Caleb Wolfrgam (20) can only watch as a shot by Gustavus Adolphus’ Jared Ackmann sails over Falcon goalie Bo Strozuk’s shoulder and into the back of the net to give the Gusties a 2-1 lead late in the first period Friday night at Hunt Arena. Bob Burrows photo

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The UW-River Falls men’s hockey team split a pair of non-conference games against MIAC opponents last weekend at Hunt Arena.

Friday the Falcons lost for just the first time this year when Gustavus Adolphus took a 3-2 win. On Saturday the Falcons scored a goal in the first period and that proved to be enough in a 1-0 win over Augsburg College.

UW-RF, 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the NCHA, will play a pair of league games at UW-Eau Claire this weekend. Action starts at 7 p.m., both days.

Last Friday at Hunt Arena, in front of nearly 1,000 fans, Gustavus jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a first period goal by Eric Bigham.

Andy Inderieden scored the first Falcon goal of the game at 18:21 to tie the score, assisted by Tad Norris. The Gusties responded in the closing minute of the period with a goal from Jared Ackmann to take a 2-1 lead at the first break.

The Falcons were handed a five-minute power play in the second period but were coming up empty before Josh Calleja was sent to the box for hooking. Three seconds after the penalty was given, Cody Mosbeck scored to extend the Gustavus lead to 3-1.

Both teams played hard in the penalty-free third period, and the goaltenders stayed strong, as neither team was able to get the puck in the net until 16:21. Justin Brossman squeezed in a goal against Gustie goaltender Josh Swartout as players crowded around the net. Jason Yuel and Tyler Czuba assisted.

The Falcons continued to rip shots for the remainder of the period, but were unable to get past Swartout.

Falcon goaltender Bo Storozuk made an impressive 34 saves against the talented Gustie offense but came out on the short end. Swartout made 17 saves.

Saturday’s victory over Augsburg showed that the Falcons are able to play competitively with anyone. The Auggies are coached by Chris Brown, a UW-RF alum and team captain of the 1994 NCAA National Champion team.

Sean Roadhouse scored the only goal of the game at 16:22 of the first period against Augsburg goaltender Jon Zitur. Assisting Roadhouse on his first goal of the season was Jamie Ruff and Andrew Harrison.

Storozuk made 34 saves to record the shutout and improve to 4-1-0 on the season.

Tags: uw river falls, sports, wiac, falcons, hockey